


It Half Failed

by Queen_Yaoi



Series: Adventures of Catboy Haru, Thirsty Makoto and Family [1]
Category: Free!
Genre: Catboy!Haruka, Curses, Haru-chan gets cursed, Haru-chan's mother is a sea-witch, Illustrated by me!!, Implied Sexual Content, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, M/M, Makoto loves Haru's curse, Mentions of Sex Toys, Mpreg, Nagisa is a Little Shit, Neko!Haruka, OC characters, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, probably slow updates
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-14
Updated: 2017-08-14
Packaged: 2018-09-24 06:57:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 19,999
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9709313
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Queen_Yaoi/pseuds/Queen_Yaoi
Summary: Basically, Haru's mother comes around for a visit, finds out that her youngest child is gay, curses him and leaves. Makoto becomes VERY thirsty for cursed Haru and Nagisa just finds everything hilarious.Also known as, a horrible concoction of all my favourite yaoi clichés, including catboys,Mpreg, various kinks and levels of thirst.Also various pets named after different species of fish.





	1. When it all started.

**Author's Note:**

> Hi Guys! Ever since I read Toast_Senpai's 'Melting Point', my life has been forever changed. I currently have 40 or so fanart of Neko!Haru (feel free to link me to more, fics as well), and I even got my own set of ears and paws for christmas so that I stop annoying my younger sister. (I made the tail for a different costume). I even, made. A... Collar for myself... Three of them so far... I'm not even eighteen yet... (I wear them a lot, but only my sister has questioned it). I don't think I will ever have enough Neko!Haru...
> 
> *Hides*
> 
> Enjoy this piece of filth I have been working on, updates will come randomly, especially 'cause I'm starting uni.

It was rare for Haruka's mother to visit the family house. Not because she lived far away, nor due to hatred, but simply because it was on land. The sea witch of Iwatobi was more fish than human, but simple potions and enchantments, could give her the ability to be on land for a few hours to see her youngest son or call her living husband.

 

Haruka set the green tea on the low living room table, a tea pot close by, along with a jug of sea water. The female was dressed in a simple sky blue, bubble embroided yukata, for the hot weather of July. The obi was a royal blue with a soft wave pattern. Her sandy hair was pinned up with a traditional hair pin decorated with an almost rainbow sea-snail shell. Haruka was wearing a pair of tan shorts and a suspiciously large yellow and orange t-shirt. Mother and child sat together in silence for a few moments, before Umitobi spoke.

 

“So how has your life been these pass few years, Haruka?” Her voice was soft, but sweet and loving. “Are you still at school?”

 

The teen nodded, petting the black cat to his side.

 

“Makoto and I are in our last year of high school. Nagisa forced us into starting up the swim club again, and I have a new friend, Rei. Rin is back from Australia, and even took me with him for a few days when he went back two weeks ago.” Haruka appeared to think for a moment before continuing. “Due to Makoto not wanting to let the strays freeze over the winter, half the cats in Iwatobi come here when the weather is cold.” The raven gestures to the cat on his lap. “This is Haddock, he's the most friendly. Also,” he paused, before standing, carrying the cat with him.

 

Haruka walked into the dining room, stopping before a large fish tank on a side table. Ocean blue eyes traced the movement of the creatures inside the tank.

 

“Makoto bought me three seahorses for my birthday. Bream, Snapper and Mackerel.”

 

The sandy blonde smiled. Ocean eyes, matching her sons', watching the fish inside through the glass. All of them seemed to move towards her presence. Umitobi pressed the tip of her index finger to the surface of the water, there was a slight blue glow, and a bubble formed that defied physics. The bubble sunk between the seahorses prompting them to play with it.

 

Haruka eyed the ball for a moment.

 

“Are you still sure, you can't make me breathe underwater?”

 

His mother sighed fondly. Whenever he saw her, he would ask that question at least once.

 

“It doesn't work that way, Haruka. You don't have the parts to make gills, so I can't give them to you.”

 

Haruka gave an unnoticeable pout. He put his free hand in the tank to pet the seahorse, named Bream.

 

The blonde took pity on her son, and decided to change the topic of conversation.

 

“You didn't mention any romance in your brief recount. Do you have someone like that yet, Haruka?”

 

The raven glanced over her outfit, before continuing to pet Bream (at least this seahorse didn't shy away like the others).

 

“You're too traditional.”

 

His mother blinked in confusion.

 

“My lover is Makoto.”

 

“Oh my, do tell me about this Makoto! You haven't mentioned her before!” she gushed. Hands to her cheeks, a slight happy blush on her features. However, it was forced. She wanted to learn about a new Makoto, and excessively suggested this notion to her son.

 

Haruka tensed, he knew what would happen, but to be honest, he didn't really care. His right hand made a cave for Bream to hide in, while his left soothed Haddock, before he started speaking.

 

“Makoto has bright, slightly drooped, green eyes and short, scruffy hazel hair. Makoto is part of the swim team and competes in backstroke. Makoto has two younger siblings, Ran and Ren. They're twins. Makoto always buys us a twin, soda ice block to share when the weather is hot. Makoto is half a head taller than me, and is more muscular. Makoto has known me for a very long time and is my best friend-”

 

Even before Haruka finished speaking, his mother's eyes widened, then turned hard. Her posture was tense, shoulders hunched and hands in fists. A blue glow surrounded her that matched the magic of the bubble ball, but it was in the shape of flames.

 

As soon as the raven finished his sentence, Umitobi was shouting out a curse. Spitting out the words in violent distaste.

 

“ _I CURSE YOU, N_ _ANASE_ _HARUKA, TO TRANSFORM_ INTO A MONSTER SO THAT YOUR BELOVED MAKOTO RUNS AWAY FROM YOU!”

 

The flames shot out and engulfed Haruka at the word 'transform', causing his body to produce a harsh white light. Grunts of pain were heard from the boy and a muffled mewl before the light faded.

 

Ocean eyes blinked and looked around the empty room. Haddock was no longer in his arms, but he could feel the claw marks in his chest. Glancing at the tank, it appeared that Bream had disappeared too. Even though he was the smallest, the seahorse would not have been able to hide in the sparse amount of green sea-grass in the enclosure.

 

Seeing as nothing was above his own needs, in terms of cleaning, Haruka set about disinfecting the cuts and washing the small drops of blood from -what was almost- his shirt.

 

>°))))⋞ >°))))⋞ >°))))⋞ >°))))⋞ >°))))⋞

 

It was only when the back door opened, that Haruka remembered that Makoto was going to come over that afternoon to help with homework. Then, it was dinner with the Tachibana's. With a fond quirk of the lips, the raven set about making some tea for his lover.

 

“Haru, I'm here now, so show me-”

 

Makoto stopped speaking as he entered the kitchen. Green eyes wide and jaw slack taking in the sight before him. After a moment a blush encompassed his face and he turned his head away. Shying from the confused glance sent by ocean eyes.

 

“Haru,” the brunet started, apparently hesitant. “What happened while your mother was here?”

 

Makoto knew of course. Haruka's grandmother used to tell the two of them the stories of Iwatobi's Sea Witch. The younger would be terrified, but 'Haru-chan' was there to protect him, so he listened all the same.

 

Haruka could try and beat around the bush, he knew what curse his mother put on him, but he didn't want to hurt Makoto more than he already had.

 

“She cursed me.”

 

Makoto glanced at Haruka's face, then up slightly and swallowed, blushing again.

 

“Why did she curse you?”

 

“Because she asked who I was romantically involved with, and I said you.”

 

“Okay...” Makoto breathed.

 

He was still looking slightly above Haruka's eyes and occasionally off to the side.

 

“What was the curse?” the brunet asked, his voice creaking in the last few syllables.

 

“Transform into a monster so you run off,” Haruka answered, huffing in pity for himself. Arms curled around himself in mock protection. Haddock still hasn't been found to cheer him up yet.

 

There was a suppressed string of laughter, but a few chuckles escaped the taller's lips.

 

“Have you looked at yourself? I think half the curse failed,” Makoto all but purred into the elder's ear. “If I'm going to run anywhere, it'll be into you.”

 

Haruka glared at Makoto through a heavy blush. He gave a minute pout and marched to the bathroom. Stopping in front of the mirror, Haruka reached up to touch one of his new ears.

 

The hairs were short, but soft and silky. Brushing just the tips of the strands, ocean eyed traced the twitching motion it made. Something his mother said clicked, as a tail and Makoto came into view on the glass.

 

“So that's where Haddock went.”

 

“Er, what? Haddock's missing?”

 

The flirty Makoto from before was gone, replaced with adorably, confuzzled Makoto.

 

“Okaa-san said that she couldn't give me gills, because I 'didn't have the parts for that', but because I was holding Haddock at the time, I probably got the cat ears and tail from him,” Haruka explained, stroking the top half of his new tail in curiosity. It wasn't extra sensitive or anything, it seemed like just another limb. But with a black fur that match his raven hair and second set of ears. “That doesn't explain the disappearance of Bream though,” he muttered to himself.

 

“Bream's missing too?” Makoto heard him obviously, damn. “He was your only male seahorse too. Sorry, Haru.”

 

The shorter sighed.

 

“You have no reason to apologise, Makoto. I was holding him too though.” Haruka twisted around to get a better look at the base of his tail. “Do you see any seahorse features on me?”

 

Giving his boyfriend a quick once-over and blushing again, the brunet shook his head.

 

“I can't see any,” Makoto paused, hooking an arm around the raven's hips and pulling his lithe body flush against his own. “Unless you want to take a closer look?” he asked hopefully.

 

Haruka pecked the lips in front of him, but shook his head.

 

“We still have dinner at your place, and I want to see how well I can swim tomorrow. Also, Haddock scratched my chest as I was cursed.”

 

“Ouch,” the taller hissed in sympathy. “You disinfected it right? Claw marks can turn really nasty if unattended.”

 

Huffing again, Haruka turned away. “Of course I did. I washed the blood off your shirt as well.”

 

“How deep are these cuts?”

 

>°))))⋞  (=^•⍵•^=)  >°))))⋞  (=^•⍵•^=)  >°))))⋞

 

The six of them sat around the Tachibana family dining table for the Sunday dinner tradition: Having Haruka join them for the meal.

 

It was very obvious to Makoto's parents, that the boys were hiding something from them. Haruka almost never wore hats, and the two were twitchier than when they came out together. However, the teens would talk when they needed too. Makoto especially could never keep a secret for long, while Haruka just found it bothersome.

 

The twins didn't notice that much was different, except, Haru-nii was was being more 'couply' than Onii-chan tonight. It was weird. And Onii-chan kept stopping Haru-nii from doing something.

 

When Haruka finally spoke loud enough for the rest of the table to hear, he gathered the twins attention.

 

“Makoto, let me untie it. It's getting really annoying.”

 

“Untie what, Haru-nii?” Ran asked, picking around her egg and eating the tonkatsu underneath.

 

The raven elbowed his boyfriend again, saying to 'just let it happen', but Makoto didn't budge.

 

“Hey, Ran, Ren, did you know that Haru-chan's okaa-san visited him today?” he said, changing the topic and peaking the twins' curiosity.

 

“Really?!” The two ten year olds turned on, Haruka. “What does she look like?”

“Is she pretty?”

“What did she wear?”

“Why do we never see her?”

“What did you guys do?”

 

Doing his best to remember all of the questions, (and ignore the _very_ irritating butcher's string around his thigh and calf) Haruka answered as best as he could.

 

“She has blond hair, that is the colour of sand, and my eyes are the same colours as hers.”

“She is pretty, in a mystical kind of way,” he paused. “Like a faerie.”

“She was wearing a blue yukata with bubbles on it, with a dark blue obi with waves.”

“You never see her, because she doesn't come out of the ocean that often.”

“We talked for a while, then she _cursed me_.” The last two words were definitely directed at the younger teen, but Makoto refuse to acknowledge them.

 

“She cursed you?!”

 

The volume of the simultaneous exclamation made the rest of the table wince, but the Tachibana parents chuckled at their enthusiasm.

 

Haruka nodded. “I told her I loved Makoto, and she cursed me.” Taking a mouthful of rice before continuing. “It half failed though.”

 

One set of green and another of brown looked up at him, glittery and shiny, as if giv en the world's greatest gift. Or about to be.

 

“Show us the curse!”

 

“Now, now, Ren, Ran,” Makoto chided with a begging smile, forcing everyone's attention -including a harsh blue gaze\- onto himself. “You know it's not polite to demand-”

 

The tallest brunet at the table was cut off by four shocked gasps from his family members and one 'that's much better, now they're not cramped' from his boyfriend.  Looking up, Makoto's guess was true, Haruka had taken off the hat hiding his cat ears. The raven was currently performing an odd leg exercise, to untie the lower piece of string,  under his long jeans, keeping his tail held down to his right leg.

 

Huffing in defeat, Haruka stood abruptly and stole the knife, Makoto had yet to use, and headed upstairs. Said brunet shoved his mouth full of egg and rice, so he wouldn't have to talk as everyone stared at him for an answer.

 

Stomping from the stairs signalled Haruka's return. Glaring and growling, ears flat and tail twitching, the older teen presented the knife to his lover, but did not let go it until he got to speak.

 

“You, or anyone else for the matter, are _never_ tying up my tail again.”

 

Makoto put the knife on the table as he argued back.

 

“You can't walk to school like that!”

 

“I will.” Haruka remained standing, using this meagre height to further his threatening image. “Nobody in Iwatobi would really care anyway.”

 

“What about Nagisa, Rei and Kou?”

 

“You're captain, call an early swim meeting tomorrow. We'll explain everything, and won't bother with anyone else.”

 

There was a burning silence, in which Makoto was beginning to cave, but the mother of the Tachibana siblings, broke the pause.

 

“I remember Mako-chan saying that your mother was the 'Sea Witch of Iwatobi' I never believed him until now.”

 

Haruka nodded, pleased with this outcome.

 

“Obaa-chan told us stories about her after she first left to go back to the ocean, when I was three. We listened to so many I think she ran out by the time we were seven.”

 

“Haru-nii's okaa-san is a witch?” Ren said, turning to said raven and asking, “Is she evil?”

 

Haruka gave a fond smirk. “Maybe if you annoy your parents too much, she'll curse you into a frog.”

 

Both twins cried out at the idea. The n glanced at each other and nodded.

 

“We'll be good!” they chorused.

 

The head of the family simply chuckled at their antics,  and turned to his almost  son-in-law.

 

“Will Mako-chan be staying with you tonight, Haru-chan?”

 

Makoto blushed hard at the not-so-secret message within the innocent enough question, while Haruka shook his head.

 

“I want to swim tomorrow, and I have scratches all down my chest.”

 

>°))))⋞  (=^•⍵•^=)  >°))))⋞  (=^•⍵•^=)  >°))))⋞

 

True to his word, Haruka forced Makoto to call all of their friends to school early enough that only the teachers and bookworms were there. Having been given a key, Makoto allowed the shorter to swim until the others arrived a few minutes later.

 

Underneath a swim cap, the catboy found that his ears did nothing to hinder him. However, his tail created some not-so-insignificant drag, but it was far too uncomfortable to squish the new appendage into his swimmers.

 

Around the time of his fifth lap, Rei and a sluggish Nagisa could be seen coming through the change rooms. Gou appeared behind the two of them as they exited the building and sat on the small bench a few metres from the edge of the pool.

 

The trio watched as Haruka climbed out of the pool (with the help of Makoto, of course), and started to walk towards them. Water dripped down his  cut up chest and hair as the  e ldest removed the swim cap.

 

Rei slapped  his  own cheek , while Nagisa giggled happily and ran to hug 'dream catboy Haru-chan'. Gou's eyes were locked onto his arms, clearly not having noticed anything different.

 

“Haruka-senpai, what is going on here?” Rei asked, keeping a scarily calm poker face until more information was provided. “Please tell me this is fake.”

 

Nagisa gave a displeased whine at the taller's comment. Makoto stood to the side, not wanting to be a part of this conversation, Haruka let him.

 

“You can't just say that, Rei-chan! Especially while I'm dreaming! Dream Rei-chan is too realistic.”

 

The blond pouted as he returned to soaking his shirt by hugging the raven and petting the cat ears atop the teen's head. A sound similar to a car motor started up as Nagisa ran a nail along the base of Haruka's ear. This seemed to shock everyone, including Gou.

 

Nagisa was quick to remove his hand  and stepped away from the older teen. T he sound stopped  and Haruka frowned  as Makoto walked over to join the group.

 

“Were you just purring?” the brunet asked, disbelief evident on his features.

 

“I think so,” Haruka responded, as if talking about the weather. He turned to his boyfriend and took the taller's right hand, before speaking again. “You're good with cats, try petting me.”

 

As if on reflex, Makoto  brought his hand to the catboy's head and started to lightly scratch behind the furred ears.  The purring started again immediately, Haruka's eyes slipping closed and leaning into the touch of Makoto's blessed fingers -like every stray in Iwatobi-, tail curling around the torso of the taller teen.

 

Nagisa whooped in delight at the scene, while Rei was still trying to decide if it was a joke. The female of the group seemed to be just starting to find a grasp on the situation.

 

“Haruka-senpai, why do you have cat ears and tail?” she asked, eyes bugging out.

 

Makoto ceased his petting, and the shorter visibly pouted at the lack of attention -to the surprise of his team-mates- before sighing, and starting to speak.

 

“Okaa-san visited yesterday and cursed me for being gay.”

 

“Ah.” The hyperactive blond seemed to have settled down enough to make pleasant conversation. “Your mother is a sea witch, right? You and Mako-chan used to tell stories about her.”

 

“Nagisa-kun, you do realise that this is not a dream right?” Rei asked, suddenly hovering around said blond.

 

Nagisa gave the butterfly swimmer an odd look.

 

“Of course this is a dream, Rei-chan. Mako-chan wouldn't only be petting Haru-chan, if it were real,” he said slyly.

 

“Nagisa!” Makoto exclaimed, a mortified expression, but telling blush creped up his neck.

 

Haruka put a hand on the blond's head.

 

“Makoto won't do anything around other people, and I won't let him until after swim practice.”

 

“Then I guess this is reality.” Nagisa nodded something to himself, before commenting. “Just do it after we leave.”

 

“Sure.”

 

While Makoto was busy trying to calm his flaming face, the other two second years were aghast in disbelief.

 

“Nagisa, how do you just believe this so easily?” Gou cried.

 

Nagisa gave the girl the same odd look he gave Rei earlier.

 

“It's funner to believe that this is real, Gou-chan. Also,” he paused, coming in close to his fellow classmates and showing a cheeky smile. “People have yet develop moving tails small enough for butt-plugs.”

 

Ignoring the shocked red faced stares for Rei and Gou, the foul-mouthed blond turned to his senpais, showing a bright smile.

 

“We'll believe you, Haru-chan! How are you going to explain this to your classmates?”

 

Haruka shrugged and Makoto sighed, not even going to try in this one-sided argument.

 

“Not going to, they can come up with their own explanation,” the raven replied, finally giving up on social interactions and get dressed without drying his hair. It would dry soon from the heat anyway.

 

“What about Rin-chan?”

 

Haruka thought for a moment, then shrugged again.

 

“Whenever we next meet up.”

 

Gou raised her hand timidly.

 

“I can set up a joint practice here for Friday.”

 

“Perfect! Then we can all sleepover at Haru-chan's for the weekend! We can celebrate the start of the holidays and the retirement of our senpais!”

 

Said teen frowned, ears going flat.

 

“Who decided this?”

 

“Me!”

 

“You can pay for the food as well then.”

 

“But Haru-chan~!”

 

>°))))⋞  (=^•⍵•^=)  >°))))⋞  (=^•⍵•^=)  >°))))⋞

 

Class time was a quiet affair. No one commented on Haruka's appearance until Ama-chan-sensei called him out during roll-call. After proving that he couldn't take off the ears or tail. (And selfishly had Makoto pet him again to prove he had other parts of a cat as well.) He had been left to do as he would normally: watch the birds out the window, under the pretence of paying attention in class.

 

One particularly rude classmate said something about 'water-freak is not only gay but is half cat as well'. Makoto was going to speak up on behalf of 'water-freak', but a gentle pat on the hand and shake of the head told the brunet, 'no, don't bother, it's not worth the effort'. The younger sulked slightly, however he obeyed, choosing instead to focus on the class lessons and the tail that brushed against his thigh.

 

Lunch continued as it would any other day; although, Nagisa said so many cat puns that Haruka threatened to lock the blond outside during the sleepover. Needless to say, Nagisa was very quiet throughout the rest of the break.

 

>°))))⋞  (=^•⍵•^=)  >°))))⋞  (=^•⍵•^=)  >°))))⋞

 

“So, Haru-chan, should I get them?”

 

The older teen sighed. Nagisa was going to do it anyway, without a doubt. So that was one reason to agree. But also, Makoto would probably find it really hot. Haruka wouldn't even be surprised if the brunet had previously fantasised about it.

 

“Whatever. Get different ones though.”

 

Nagisa whooped, throwing an arm out of the water, and splashing the adjacent teen.

 

“I'll get a normal one, a pretty one and an _erotic_ one,” the blond rattled off to himself, because his company was no longer listening. Observing the fingers that were following his speech, he decided that, yes, three different ones would give plenty of variety. Nodding to himself, Nagisa threw his arms up again, but this time jumping round to gain the attention of the other pool occupants. “Rei-chan! We need to go shopping!”

 

Said blue haired boy barely showed shock towards the shorter's seemingly random decisions, and forcing him to tag along. Rei merely sighed, and proceeded to exit the water.

 

Looking around magenta eyes fell on the only female within the pool fence. Ama-chan-sensei had already left to 'catch up with old friends', which left Gou as the only person who could disturb Nagisa's plan.

 

“Gou-chan should come too!” he exclaimed cheerfully, jumping up the pool ladder and bouncing around the red-head.

 

Huffing Gou shot the boy a deadly glare.

 

“I don't see why I should have to go. Also,” she paused, taking in a deep breath, before shouting. “IT'S KOU!”

 

While Nagisa did not give up easily, he did not have a actual reason to bring the girl along, and in any case, he couldn't say what they were shopping for. So, the blond would have to use his speciality: being 'subtle'.

 

“Come on, Gou-chan! It'll be fun!” Nagisa said, his voice clearly hinting at something else, along with both of his hands, pointing in the direction of a blushing Makoto (watching Haruka trying to maneuver his tail in a way to help swimming), and his desperate, overly-obvious winks.

 

Understanding what the blond was getting at quite quickly with his helpful, 'subtle' hints. Gou blushed slightly, but agreed to go with the less occupied half of the swim team.

 

As soon as the juniors announced their leave, -with overly obvious intention- Makoto thanked them internally and wrapped his arms around the only other body in the pool area.

 

“Haru _ka_ ,” he purred into the left human ear of his boyfriend.

 

Haruka looked up into grassy green eyes and gave a coy smirk. “Yes, Makoto?”

 

“Do you want to be able to swim tomorrow?” the taller asked, nibbling on the raven's ear.

 

“I don't mind either way.”

 

Needless to say, the pool filter was running at double the speed as Haruka was carried home after they left school (where they picked up where they left off), awkwardly limped around for the next day and wasn't allowed to take his shirt off while swimming until the joint practice. However, Haruka didn't have to put on as much sunscreen... So maybe he would be willing to do it to _that_ extent again.


	2. In which Samezuka finds out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The joint practice is underway... After Rin, Sousuke, Momotarou and Aiichirou find out why Haruka has a tail and ears, anyway.  
> And they have a sleepover, in which, Nagisa gives Haruka a few presents... Makoto loves the presents.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> UPDATE!: Now with art!

“What the fuck is this public pet-play, Haru?”

 

By now it was Friday afternoon. The Samezuka relay team had just exited the Iwatobi Club locker rooms to see Haruka rushing into the water with Makoto's protests of “Haru, you haven't completed the stretches yet!”. After five days of getting weird looks around the school (and across the entirety of his life, when he was near public water features), the catboy didn't notice the stares that their rivals were giving him. At least, until Rin spoke up.

 

The shorter's left cat ear twitched and tail flicked water from the fur at the tip, drawing the attention of the newcomers stares to features. However, he did not say anything, annoyed at their assumption. Luckily, the hyperactive blond -who had noticed their arrival- was jumping up and down on the spot to explain the situation at hand.

 

“Haru-chan was cursed!” Nagisa exclaimed to the four.

 

Rin, Sousuke and Aiichirou gave blank stares while Momotarou hopped for a moment, then raised his hand as if in a classroom.

 

“Why was Nanase-senpai cursed?!” the orange haired teen asked, his enthusiasm leaking into his speech and raising the volume of his voice. Cat ears flattened to try and limit the noise.

 

Nagisa stood in a eerily similar fashion to a certain glasses-wearing butterfly swimmer, as he answered the younger's question.

 

“Haru-chan told his mother that he loved Mako-chan, so she cursed him!”

 

A mere second later, Haruka's shoulders were being held in a vice-grip by the Mikoshiba, as the bug-catcher wailed to the sky.

 

“I'm sorry Nanase-senpai!”

 

Again, the catboy tried in vain, to limit the amplitude of the sound waves his ears detected.

 

The other three Samezuka swimmers did not buy this story though. Sousuke was looking as if Haruka had grown another head, not just another set of ears and a tail, while Aiichirou looked plain uncomfortable in this situation. The shark-toothed teen let out an exasperated sigh and shook his head in disbelief.

 

“You're still going on with that story, Haru?” he asked the floating raven. “You still tell people that your mother is the 'Sea Witch of Iwatobi'?”

 

Haruka shook his head to answer the red-head, because really, who would believe him other than the people currently around him?

 

“I normally just say that she passed away when I was younger, because it's easier than explaining,” there was a pause, then Haruka started making his way to the edge of the pool, signalling his boyfriend to help his out. “You probably won't believe me until you feel for yourself.”

 

This comment just got him blank stares from five people of the eight at the pool side. Nagisa, Momotarou and Rei -who was religiously completing his stretching routine-, chose not/failed to notice anything wrong with the previous statement.

 

“Haru.” ' _Don't tell Rin and Sousuke to grope you. I don't even want you to come to school showing you're new features._ _'_

 

Sensing his panic from a single utterance of his name, Haruka turned to the taller brunet. Raising an eyebrow and giving the younger an odd, smirking look.

 

“You already tested the sensitivity of my tail and ears. It's just like having another arm and set of ears.” After giving a wave of indifference and pulling at the back of his swimmers (they were digging into the base of his tail), the freestylist continued, with a blank expression. “It's nothing like those cat-hybrid yaoi manga you finally confessed about owning-”

 

“Haru!” Makoto exclaimed with a face as red as Rin's hair.

 

“What?”

 

Without any regard to the range of blushing coming from the team-mates around him, Nagisa tried console his captain.

 

“Don't worry, Mako-chan! Everyone here has at _least_ one of those under their bed!” The faces around them got redder, especially Gou's. “You can compare you're collection to mine when we _all_ go to Haru-chan's!”

 

And speaking of which, that reminded the blond of those... Things, he got for Haruka.

 

“Oh, and Haru-chan,” he called out to the only pale faced member of either swim team. “I got those presents you wanted,” Nagisa finished with a saccharine smile. He couldn't wait until he saw Makoto's reaction.

 

“Sleepover.”

 

And in case he finality in his tone wasn't enough to convince the blond to cease talking, he grabbed the hands of the rival third years, and placed them in his hair. Haruka then motioned for the younger swimmers to pet his tail.

 

The Samezuka swimmers were in awe at the amazing cosplay Haruka had created... That was until Rin felt around the base of Haruka's ears feeling the skin of his scalp merge into furred cat ears. At this point the red-head's eyes got comically wide and he stopped moving.

 

“They're attached-” the shark breathed, red eyes searching to meet blue for a confirmation of some kind.

 

The raven, instead turned to his boyfriend, and after having one of those freaky-eye-conversations, Makoto grabbed Rin's hand himself and led two of his fingers to the base of Haruka's tail. Again, skin fluidly connected to fur.

 

“So you guys were never lying about her?”

 

“No. And if any of you are still sceptical there is also a bubble ball in the seahorse tank.”

 

Having placated all of the Samezuka curiosity for now, Haruka rushed back into the pool, starting the wave of swimmers leaping into the cool abyss and freeing themselves from the summer heat. Nagisa had even managed to get Gou to lay off the club's managing and join them.

 

Rin protests (and Sousuke's) ensured that the girl must wear a shirt and her white pantsu were to be replaced by swimmers. Having rejected the catboy's spare pair of swimmers, that left the Matsuoka girl swimming in her own spare, dark grey shirt and one of Nagisa's seemingly endless pairs of really tacky swimwear. This particular piece was speedo style with a deep grape to forest green background colour with a highlighter yellow leaf pattern that burned the retinas of any perving eyes. Also known as, the perfect combination (in the eyes of Rin (and Sousuke)) to keep his little sister from harm when a certain carrot-top is in the vicinity.

 

And really Momo was the only reason the horrible speedo choice was needed. Sousuke acted like another older brother to her, was gay, and Rin's boyfriend. Ai would be too meek and modest to do anything if he did have feelings -which he didn't-. Makoto (and Haru) had developed big brother tendencies from babysitting the twins, plus, Makoto was Harusexual, and Haru was Makosexual and/or Hydrosexual. Nagisa knew very well not to get on a girl's bad side or take anything too far, that and he was bent as all fuck. And Rei was simply striving for beauty with theory and calculation -and had a mild obsession with butterflies-. Yes, Rei was about as straight as a cold, wet noodle.

 

' _Ye_ _p,_ ' Rin thought. His little sister certainly knew how to pick the gayest people around to hang out with... Nevermind the fact that he was probably gay _er_ than half the guys mentioned, that's not the point he was trying to make.

 

The red-head was pulled from his thoughts by the 'captain voice' of Makoto, the brunet was currently trying to help Gou stay above the water while she got a grip on swimming _and_ prevent Momotarou from 'helping' her.

 

Seeing as it was becoming too much for the teen to handle, Rin called for Sousuke to 'stand straight' as the shark clambered up his boyfriend's back and used Sousuke's good shoulder as a launch pad to propel himself at the first-year. After the otter moved to one of the side lanes, away from where Gou was in the middle of the pool, Rin continued to glare at him.

 

Together the Iwatobi and Samezuka teams stayed in the water until the sun was starting to set and Nagisa was whining about going over to Haruka's house to start the sleepover.

 

Rin looked up at the blond with a towel over his hair.

 

“You guys are having a sleepover?”

 

Sousuke 'hmm'ed, and added: “Nanase mentioned something about a sleepover earlier.”

 

The hyperactive blond grinned and threw his arms out to the rival team. Nagisa had his trousers on, while everyone else was simply doing up various buttons and zip of their garments.

 

“You guys are all invited too!”

 

The raven pointedly ignored the conversation and Makoto as the taller tried to get him out of the shower.

 

The unoccupied third years shared a look and smirked.

 

“Sounds like a good way to start the summer holidays! We'll join you.”

 

Nagisa jumped on the spot and eagerly turned to the younger swimmers.

 

Momotarou looked ashamed while Aiichirou gave an apologetic smile.

 

“Sorry Nagisa-kun,” the silver-haired boy started, “I have to pack my bags to go and see my family. I have to be on the train at eight in the morning. So I can't go.”

 

Crocodile tears ran down Nagisa's cheeks, as he glopped the other boy. “Ai-chan!” he exclaimed tearfully, sobbing into said boys shoulder. However, after a few moments of fake crying (and Haruka still refusing to remove himself from the shower), Nagisa pulled away and turned to the youngest teen. “Momo-chan?”

 

Momotarou scratched his cheek awkwardly and refused to meet the blond's eyes. “Gomen, Nagisacchi. I can't because I have an essay to write,” he said solemnly.

 

This excuse caused the young teen to get odd looks from everyone paying attention to the conversation.

 

“But today is the last day of term, even for boarding schools.” Rei said, posing it as more of a question.

 

In response, Momotarou simply looked down at his feet, nervously fisting the hem of his shirt. Beside him, Aiichirou sighed in exasperation and took it upon himself to explain the first-year's odd predicament.

 

“Momo-kun's schedule is full until about six o'clock when he does his homework.” Blue eyes closed in frustration as the explanation continued, and Momotarou flinched with every word. “However, now that it is summer, Momo-kun has gone out beetle hunting instead of doing homework. Half-attempts at homework were done until the sun set, then handed in the next morning.”

 

Expressions varied between vicious smirks and defeated grimaces, though Nagisa looked as if he had been betrayed by his carrot-top friend.

 

“This Monday through to Friday, no homework was attempted, nor handed in. As punishment, Momo-kun has to write a ten page essay on the importance of following rules and completing homework.”

 

As the story was completed, Nagisa gave the traitor a cheated look, before turning away and moving forward to grab the female teen by the shoulders.  
  
“Is Gou-chan going to come to the sleepover?” he asked cutely, magenta eyes widening innocently.

 

The girl sighed, deciding to be lenient with the nickname for once. “No, I already promised to sleepover with the other girls.”

 

Nagisa pouted excessively, arms crossed over his still naked torso, and head turned away from Gou.

 

“You just don't want to be there to hear when Haru-chan and Mako-chan fuck each other. Rei-chan and I already have.”

 

“NAGISA!”

 

While everyone else blushed slightly and laughed at the brunet's reaction (including Haruka, who was finally slipping back into his school uniform), Makoto refused to interact with anyone, his entire face and neck a bright red flush, that didn't fade until the group of male swimmers walked up the stairs to Haruka's house. Yes, they dropped Aiichirou and Momotarou at the train station, and yes, the twins bewitched four of the six of them for the better part of twenty minutes. During said time, with the original question of “Why is your face all red, Onii-chan? Did Haru-nii do something again?” completely ignored, Makoto stalked the way to his room, quickly changed clothes and grabbed his spare pair of swimmers.

 

After the blond crossed the threshold into the Nanase household, Nagisa hastily kicked off his shoes while dragging Haruka along behind him. The unexpected action caused the raven to be rushed into the living room without having his shoes removed. Haruka gave a pointed look at his feet and glared at Nagisa, who gave a nervous chuckle.

 

“I'll clean the tatami mats later!” he apologised. “I'll do it while you're making dinner!” Nagisa hurriedly added on, when cat ears remained flat.

 

“Makoto will make sure.”

 

Said brunet was currently making tea for the guests visiting his second home. Makoto didn't mind too much, Nagisa did mention having something for his boyfriend earlier on. While waiting for the water to boil, the tall teen briefly made his way upstairs to drop off his swimmers. Nagisa called him into the living room as he was coming back down to take Haruka's shoes to the genkan. The water was done when he made it back to the kitchen.

 

Upon entering the living room, Makoto set the tray of tea cups onto the low table. The half that wasn't blocked by a semi-dry towel anyway. From where Makoto sat, directly across from him was a purple towel that Nagisa and Rei were holding up. Rin and Sousuke sat next to each other at the end of the table, sharing confused looks. Haruka was nowhere to be seen.

 

Nagisa caught green eyes and gave a vicious smirk. Giving a quick nod to behind the towel, the blond then turned to Rei.

 

“Let Mako-chan see, Rei-chan!”

 

The towel was lowered, and the missing raven was revealed. Haruka was shirtless again, but what caught the brunet's attention (as well as everyone else's) was the thin, ocean blue pet collar around his neck. It used a simple clip to undo, and the D-ring was adorned by a small silver bell and name tag.

 

“It says 'Haruka: If lost return to Makoto',” the blond provided.

 

 

Rin burst out laughing, hunching over himself and slapping Sousuke's thigh. The red-head's boyfriend wasn't doing much better, leaning on Rin and attempting to quiet his own chuckles of

amusement. Rei looked away from his senpais, and Nagisa eagerly watched for Makoto's reaction.

 

Said green-eyed teen was blushing -again- and staring wide-eyed at his boyfriend. Tail flicked under the attention, and slender fingers scratched at the collar. The bell gave high-pitched rings with every movement.

 

Haruka frowned and unclipped the collar. Handing it back to Nagisa he said, “It must be made of wool, it's too itchy.”

 

“Okay! Time to try the next one then!”

 

Rei and Nagisa lifted the towel, once again hiding Haruka from view. While Haruka was putting the next collar on, Makoto sipped at his tea. Rin gave his friend a once-over and grinned.

 

“You've though about this before haven't you Makoto?”

 

Immediately, the brunet went tense and started to tremble. Hands gripped the pottery with a white-knuckled force as he shakily replied, “N-no? I d-don't know what you're going on about, R-rin.”

 

“Don't make him too uncomfortable, Rin,” Haruka interjected. “I still need to know which one is best, so don't scare him off.”

 

Sweet, innocent Rei continued to stare off in the distance, while the other room occupants ogled at the catboy. Sousuke wolf-whistled and nudged Rin, who in turn asked: “where did you get that?”

 

Nagisa gave a small smile in an attempt to look the tiniest bit not guilty. “I had to beg my older sisters to go shopping for me.” He gave a cheeky wink before continuing. “They sent me photos and I chose the best one.”

 

Haruka gave Makoto a sultry glance, before the brunet squeaked and hid his face behind his hands. Haruka sighed, he couldn't blame Makoto for hiding himself when the raven was wearing what he was. This collar used a thick, silver buckle to come undone; but you had to be careful not to hurt yourself on the blue-tinted spikes that ran across the length of the black leather. Instead of a D-ring, this collar had a small leather loop next to the buckle, holding a name tag that said: 'Mako-chan's catboy'.

 

 

The raven hoped that the 'Mako-chan' was pure coincidence. However based on what Nagisa had said that very afternoon, it was highly probable that the blond devil knew what they called each other in bed.

 

' _Oh well_ ,' he thought to himself, undoing the buckle to give his boyfriend some time before the next collar. ' _Nothing will ever be as bad as the twins walking in on us fingering each other_.' Haruka placed the collar on the table, that one was definitely staying. ' _At least there was a sheet_.'

 

Getting up from his seated position, Haruka made his way to the kitchen. Makoto was clearly grateful to his boyfriend, while Rin and Sousuke just snickered at the couple. Nagisa was dismayed at the action.

 

“Aww! Haru-chan, there's still one more collar to try on!”

 

The raven turned to address another occupant of the room, ignoring the blond.

 

“Yamazaki, can you cook?”

 

Slightly baffled by the question, the cedar haired male replied. “Yeah, I can make simple stuff. Why?”

 

Haruka hummed and nodded. “Good enough. The reason being that, Makoto can't do anything besides cut things and burn the kitchen down. Rei needs overly-complex instructions, Nagisa will add sugar to everything. Or protein powder. And Rin... Well, you can he ask him yourself, but I don't trust any of them with looking after the curry.”

 

With that, he gave a pointed look to Nagisa, then proceeded to gather ingredients from around the kitchen. Looking back at the living room and seeing that Nagisa was still pouting over the lack of collars being worn, he walked over to the blond and flicked his forehead.

 

“Makoto, make sure Nagisa cleans the tatami mats.”

 

The brunet nodded and understanding that this was a punishment, only pointed in the a vague direction of the cleaning supplies. Satisfied, Haruka returned to the kitchen, slipping the blue apron over his head and set about cutting everything. The guests and Makoto entertained themselves while the catboy worked away in the kitchen. When it got to the point where it was a matter of waiting for the potatoes to cook until he could do anything else, Haruka returned to the others.

 

“Yamazaki, everything is cooked. Just wait for the potatoes, add the curry and let the greens sit in the heat for a few minutes before serving.”

 

The taller teen gave a nod of acknowledgement as the raven sat down in the same spot as before. Across from Makoto and between Nagisa and Rei.

 

Seeing the catboy's return, Nagisa clapped happily and eagerly threw one end of the towel at the youngest teen. Haruka picked up the final collar and simply stared at it.

 

“How does this one work?”

 

“Here I'll do it. Rin-chan, hold this up, but no peaking!”

 

“Oh.”

 

“Wait a sec, Haru-chan.”

 

The sound of skin being lightly slapped multiple times was heard from behind the towel. Now Makoto was getting quite nervous as to what he got himself into with this failed curse.

 

“Okay! Now, Rei hand-made this one, so take care of it, and look pretty, Haru-chan!”

 

Nagisa forcefully pulled the towel out of both Rin and a blushing Rei's grasps. The bluenet didn't really want Haruka to know that the blond menace had forced him to make the last collar, but what's done is done. There's nothing Rei can do know, but hope that his senpais don't ask for another one. However, by looking at their reactions... ' _I'll just_ _pray_ _that they don't ask me to make another one._ '

 

“What the fuck?” uttered Rin.

 

The red-head stared open-mouthed in shock at the beauty?, Cutie?, Pure, catboy, uke, sexiness? Rin goes with the last one, because it is the most accurate. Fuck, if only he could wear something to make him look that good in front of Sousuke.

 

Said cedar haired male wasn't doing much better. Unlike his boyfriend, he has the decency to close his mouth; but he is blushing. He does admit that Haruka looks good. God damn, Nagisa has gotten everyone in on this fucking collar fetish, because now Sousuke wants to go out and buy Rin a spiked, red leather collar. Yeah, his little great white would look great in that.

 

The collar the catboy was wearing had three different layers to it. The base layer was a comfortable ocean blue, pleated ribbon. Above this, lacy, white ribbon could be seen. Around the length of the collar was a thinner, icy blue, grosgrain ribbon holding the layers together. Front and centre on the collar was a bow made of the same grosgrain ribbon with a D-ring sewn underneath. A few centimetres to each side of this bow was two other, smaller bows.

 

A tilt of the catboy's head caused the silver bells held by the smaller bows to sing. This same movement made a green shine catch the attention of staring eyes. An orca charm with a green gem as its eye hung from the D-ring.

 

 

The light blush on his boyfriend's cheeks did not help Makoto's situation at all. To say that Haruka looked like a product of his fantasies would be wrong. The raven looked _so_ much better than that, and the brunet was getting a not so small problem in the front of his shorts. A beet-red flush showed on his cheeks, even so, Makoto refused to move and to glance away.

 

A small 'nya~' caused any restraint to break, as the brunet dived over the table to almost viciously make out with the catboy as he was carried blindly up the stairs and to their bedroom. (Because after sharing with Makoto for sixteen years, it wasn't just his anymore.)

 

A slamming of a sliding door, broke the guests from their daze of confusion. Rin looked around at the other swimmers before speaking.

 

“Who expected that?”

 

Nagisa shook his head in a excited manner while Sousuke muttered something about knowing Makoto the least. Rei timidly raised a hand. The red-head was the only one to notice.

 

“Rei?”

 

Rei blushed brighter, before nodding.

 

“I caught them in the changing rooms once. That was before Haruka-senpai was cursed.”

 

Nagisa and Rin both wolf-whistled, while Sousuke seemed to remember the situation at hand and went to the kitchen to finish making the curry.

 

>°))))⋞ (=^•⍵•^=) >°))))⋞ (=^•⍵•^=) >°))))⋞

 

It was only after the boys had finished their curry and found the two spare futons, that Sousuke brought up the unusual silence the swimmers were encased in.

 

“Does no one else find it weird that it's silent?”

 

Everyone stopped putting the bedding together for a moment to listen.

 

“Huh, you're right,” Rin muttered as he continued to pull the cover onto the futon. “Maybe they're finished.”

 

The youngest of the group shook his head. “Yamazaki-senpai is right, ever since the door was closed, no sound has been heard.”

 

Nagisa 'hmm'ed and promptly stood.

 

“This calls for an investigation!”

 

And before anyone could say something to go against the blond, he was already bouncing up the stairs. Only Nagisa's footsteps were heard until the breaststroke swimmer came back down (to fully organised bedding) to report his findings.

 

“I checked every room, except Haru-chan's dad's room, and they were empty,” he declared, his serious tone not once breaking despite the ridiculousness of the situation. “However, in the en-suite bathroom that connects to that room, I could hear Haru-chan and some thumping.” Queue blushing from Rei and Rin. “SO! My guess is that, that room is soundproof.”

 

Nagisa seemed to be proud of himself, and turned to Rei to hear compliments on his detective work, only to see a blushing mess.

 

“Aww, Rei-chan is embarrassed!” he cooed at the flustered male.

 

“Anyone would be embarrassed to hear that!”

 

The third-years chuckled that their bickering and crawled into the single futon together. It was a tight fit. Rin being spooned by Sousuke, because sleeping on their sides would be the only solution. Seriously, both of them weren't exactly small. Why didn't Haruka have a bigger one for when he and Makoto would sleep down here with them? ' _Ah right, they have been sharing a bed for so long, they can make it comfortable, no matter what size they are, or how big_ _t_ _he bed is_.'

 

A few more minutes of playful arguing later, and Rei followed the example, slipping inside the futon and holding a corner up in invitation for the exuberant blond. Nagisa gave a cheerful grin, pulled on the light switch and snuggled against his team mate.

 

“So when are you to going to start dating?”

 

Blush and spluttering.

 

“Well, I've been trying to give hints to Rei-chan for months now, but he refuses to notice.”

 

“Months? How can he be that dense?”

 

“I don't know! Rin-chan, got any tips?”

 

A small 'eep' and low chuckling was heard from the couple's bed.

 

“Rin can't give you any advice Nagisa. After-all, while I was lying on his bed, the day after the nationals, he suddenly kissed me with absolutely no context.”

 

“Ooo~! Nice going, Rin-chan! Maybe I should do the same to Rei-chan.”

 

“Nah, he'll just combust in a similar way Makoto does.”

 

“I'm _right_ here!”

 

“Ah! So you are, Rei-chan! Here you go! Chuu~!”

…

 

“I think Rei-chan fainted.”

 

“Told you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Actually, while I was drawing the first collar: My dad came in and saw what I was drawing! I could do nothing since he already saw the screen! But, he just said "okay" and left. It was never mentioned again. And I actually made the third collar for myself before writing this(mostly, I had a dolphin instead of an orca)... Maybe I'll post a picture of it if people want.
> 
> And I hope I can update sooner next time! Uni has gifted me with seven hours of doing nothing on a Tuesday, so I've been writing a lot. (Two extra chapters are complete and I'm working on another two!)


	3. Truths revealed!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Haruka's father comes to pay a visit.   
> Haruka gets sick.  
> Makoto faints.  
> Hypothesises are tested and truths are revealed.  
> Makoto faints.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you haven't seen it already, Chapter two has been updated! There is now art that I have drawn for the part of the chapter when Haruka is trying on the collars! So go and check it out!

It wasn't often that Haruka's father came to visit. In fact, over the past three years, in which Haruka has been living 'alone', Nanase-san has only visited his son for a total of three days. Arriving one morning and leaving the next. They don't usually call or text each other either, though communication was never Haruka's strong point. It was eight in the morning when the raven haired man walked up the stone path leading to the door. Tugging on the handle once and finding it locked, the man jogged around to the back of the house and entered through the back door.

 

While it was never too unusual for his son to have friends invite themselves over -to what was now the Tachibana-Nanase household- he did not expect to see two new faces asleep on the spare futons. Rin and Nagisa he knew from when he would take Haruka to swim school, but the blue-haired boy and cedar-haired male were both new. His dolphin wasn't one to make new friends, so this was an interesting development.

 

Quietly walking past the visitors and making his way upstairs, azure-blue eyes noticed that the door to Haruka's room was open and no one was inside... Which meant that his son and almost-son-in-law went into the master bedroom because it was soundproof. That's fine, but Nanase wants to sleep in a clean queen-sized bed by the end of the day. Dropping his bag on the floor in front of the door to the master bedroom, he made his way back down stairs to the kitchen. ' _Aww, how cute. Seahorses are a great birthday present for Haru-chan, you may was well have proposed, Mako-chan_.'

 

>°))))⋞  (=^ • ⍵ • ^=)  >°))))⋞  (=^ • ⍵ • ^=)  >°))))⋞

 

Unsurprisingly, it was Rei that was the first of the downstairs occupants to awake up. Untangling himself from the smaller blond and making a stop further down the hall to the bathroom, Rei then headed to the kitchen. The scent of food cooking was odd. Everyone else was asleep, and with the way Makoto reacted last night, he had no doubt that Haruka would be limping again for at least a few days.

 

The sight of an older man at the cooktop was alarming for a moment, before Rei recognised that his hair was the exact shade of his senpai's. Not wanting to be rude, the blue-haired teen waited until the man had turned to face him before asking.

 

"Are you Haruka-senpai's father?"

 

Nanase-san nodded, an amused gleam in his eyes as he set seven plates on the table and started to filled them with fried bacon and one egg each. Rice bowls were the next to be set out, however only two were filled at the moment (the others could get their own rice).

 

"Join me for breakfast will you? Everyone else will get up when the smell reaches them."

 

The two awake occupants of the house sat at the table, chopsticks in hand and began eating their share of the rice, egg and bacon.

 

"So tell me about yourself and how Haru-chan met you. He's not the type to easily make friends," Haruka's father said after a bite of egg.

 

"Ryugazaki Rei, I was in the track team, for a few weeks before joining the swim club during my first year. Nagisa-kun was trying to get people to join the swim club that he, Makoto-senpai and Haruka-senpai had started." The grip Rei had on his rice bowl tightened as he recalled the annoyance the blond menace had caused him. "After watching Haruka-senpai swim, I decided that I too wanted to learn how to swim. I joined the swim club, and found out that I can only swim butterfly."

 

"Heh, well, Nagisa couldn't have been too much trouble considering how you two were cuddled up together."

 

Rei blushed and looked down at his food, after _that_ he didn't remember anything from last night, so he assume that he must have fainted. Embarrassing. Noticing the blush, the older decided to ignore the question in favour of the newcomer to the kitchen.

 

"Nice to see you again, Nagisa."

 

At the sound of his name the blond looked up and sprung to life, hugging the man that was now standing before him. Nagisa gave a squeal of delight, rubbing his head against the man's chest before looking up to greet him verbally.

 

"Otou-chan! You're here to see Haru-chan after the curse, right?"

 

Nanase-san confirmed this, then physically pushed the energetic blond into one of the dining chairs. Once Nagisa had started eating the prepared breakfast before him, the raven turned back to Rei.

 

"Should I go and wake Rin up? Or will he come out on his own?" The tone had a sense of knowing, but also curiosity.

 

Rei opened his mouth to speak, however Nagisa spoke for him, despite the half-chewed food in his mouth.

 

"Rin-chan is cuddled up to his boyfriend, so I'm not sure. But! They weren't up too late, because I fell asleep after they did."

 

Rei grimaced at the sight, while Nanase-san whacked the blond over the back of the head and gave pointed look. Nagisa gave an impish smile, continuing to eat, but no longer talking.

 

The three of them sat in scattered conversation, and after a few minutes lips smacking together was heard from the room beside them. The thumping of heavy footsteps could also be heard from the floor above. Less than a minute later, Rin had a tearful reunion with Haruka's father, while Sousuke had to introduce himself in the same way Rei did. Though, he neglected to mention the tone of his relationship with Haruka.

 

When Rin and Sousuke had almost finished their own breakfast, a freshly showered Makoto trod downstairs (fully dressed), with his catboy (wearing the yellow and orange t-shirt, and a pair of boxers) sitting in his arms. Clearly, Haruka would get to control the actions of his boyfriend for the entire day. The raven waved a nonchalant greeting at his father as his giant set him down on a newly vacated seat. Getting down to business immediately, the catboy hastily ate a few mouthfuls of rice, before turning on the breaststroke swimmer.

 

“Nagisa, was it necessary to check up on us?”

 

While Makoto, Rei and Rin blushed fiercely, Sousuke and Nanase-san smirked in amusement. Nagisa simply seemed intrigued by this comment.

 

“How did you know I went up there?” the blond asked, magenta eyes shining with childish curiosity.

 

“I heard someone enter the en-suite. It had to be you.”

 

As the others took their time to soak in this new information, Haruka and Makoto quickly ate the rest of the available food. They had skipped dinner and done _a lot of exercise_ after all. It was expected, but not overlooked. The father in the room, watched his sons in a caring way. Everyone else watched while each thought of different, yet equally disturbing... Things.

 

After eating the last of his second helping, Haruka turned to his father expectantly. Used to this behaviour, Nanase-san, instead looked to Makoto and proposed that they take this lengthy conversation to the living room. The futons were pushed to the side to be dealt with later and Haruka sat on those, while everyone else got the well-worn cushion-seats around the low table.

 

The catboy gave a hum of thought, before speaking.

 

“Everyone can ask questions when, Otou-san is finished.”

 

This offer seemed to make everyone happy, and Haruka's father started to speak.

 

“So, Haru-chan, your mother only gave me a brief recount of what happened, can you give more detail?”

 

The raven teen sighed. No, he didn't want to give more detail, however, his father deserved more than the superficial explanation that he and Makoto gave to the other swimmers and Gou.

 

“Okaa-san asked about romance, I told her about Makoto, she freaked, and cursed me. I was holding Haddock (“The black cat,” Makoto provided) and Bream (“Male seahorse.”) at the time. We believe that I have merged with the two of them.” Haruka brushed one of his ears and flicked his tail into Makoto's face. “This theory accounts for the ears and tail, but no seahorse features have been found.”

 

“Well, you've only been like this for six days so far, maybe we can find other characteristics can be found in the month I have here,” Nanase-san said with an oddly pleased smile. “Just remember, no matter what happens, I would never disown either of you. As soon as you want me, I'll be on the soonest plane to Iwatobi.”

 

Both Makoto and Haruka showed their appreciation of this statement by hugging their father figure. Satisfied that the most important part of his weekend was over, the catboy nodded to the other teens in the room, offering them the chance to ask questions. Of course, Nagisa's hand shot up as if he was in class, but he asked his question regardless of whether he had been acknowledged at first or not.

 

“Why is the master bedroom soundproof?”  
  
“Ah.”

 

Both of the Nanase's smirked slightly and looked to a pouting and blushing brunet.

 

“Didn't we agree that, that didn't happen?” Makoto asked hopefully, peaking out from behind his fingers, only to hide behind them again when he got the disappointing answer of 'no.'

 

After telling the swimmers about how Nanase-san made Makoto cry (and have bedwetting-nightmares) on more than one occasion with company phone calls, both the Tachibana's and the Nanase's chipped in to soundproof the master bedroom, should the need for shouting or excessive noise arise. The next topic of conversation was again brought up by Nagisa, but it was more of a challenge to the rival shark and dolphin.

 

"Ne ne, Rin-chan, Haru-chan, both of you are eighteen now. Have you brought anything yet?"

 

Sousuke and Nanase-san watched on as everyone else in the room, (with the exception of Haruka) blushed as hard as Makoto did the day before. The raven teen didn't particularly want to relay this information at all, much less so when his father was there. However, Nagisa could be very convincing when he wanted to be and Haruka didn't want to bother when it would happen regardless.

 

"I've only been eighteen for about two weeks, Nagisa, and I don't have much money." A minute blush was visible high o his cheeks as the catboy continued to speak. "I have bought some things though."

 

There was a slight pause when Rin looked at the freestylist in absolute horror -now that Haru had confessed, he would have to as well- before the catboy tried to make both himself and the shark a bit more innocent.

 

"Those collars you gave me are definitely toys though, and you aren't even seventeen yet."

 

The blond gave a satisfied smirk, winked at a very confused, brightly blushing Rei; then turned his advances on the red-head. The cedar -haired male gave his boyfriend an encouraging pat on the shoulder. Rin took a deep breath, before speaking in one long word.

 

"I don't have much money either, but I brought... things, kind of. Not many though, where would we put them in our dorm room! Plus, Momo would probably find them if they were obvious, so there's only two for now."

 

Rin's face went redder than his hair. He knew he was fucked as he said the number. Haruka must have had the same thoughts, as the raven reached over to slug the red-head in the shoulder. More 'innocent' members of the group, said something about making lunch (Haruka would have protested, but Makoto and Rei know their limits in the kitchen, unlike _some_ people).

 

Nanase-san just laughed, while Sousuke and Nagisa watched on in amusement. Of course, being Nagisa, the demon wanted more details, so he then proceeded to ask:

 

“What kind of toys Rin-chan? Haru-chan too!”

 

“Rin already said this, so I'll say it as well. Five, total. One is a double-up.” The blush on Haruka's cheeks didn't fade as he would have liked.

 

“What's the double?”

 

Surprisingly, it was Rin who asked, and the younger raven didn't see too much harm in this particular answer.

 

“Handcuffs.”

 

Nagisa's magenta eyes gave an odd sparkle as he smirked and gave the catboy a suggestive nudge with an elbow to the ribcage.

 

“Ooo! Kinky, Haru-chan!”

 

Needless to say, Nagisa was gagged or glared into silence until Makoto and Haruka forced everyone to leave after eating the sandwiches. Makoto also said his goodbyes to Haruka for the rest of the weekend, partly because he felt guilty, partly because if he stayed it would be the brunet's sixth night in a row at the catboy's house. Somehow, this made Makoto felt bad towards his parents.

 

>°))))⋞  (=^ • ⍵ • ^=)  >°))))⋞  (=^ • ⍵ • ^=)  >°))))⋞

 

Two weeks into his father's stay, means about three weeks of the curse. Twenty-five days if one was being exact. It was the morning of day twenty-five when Nanase-san got out of bed and went down the hall to check on his son.

 

Now Haruka not being in his room at seven-thirty in the morning wasn't unheard of, but if the raven wasn't in the bath, then something was very wrong. As it happens, the catboy was busy throwing up water and stomach acid into the toilet.

 

The father frowned and went down to the kitchen to get a glass of water, by the time he returned, the younger was brushing his teeth as if nothing had happened. After rinsing, Haruka took the offered glass, downed it contents and filled it again.

 

“Haru-chan, are you okay?” Worried tone laced through the words, prompting the shorter to give a truthful answer.

 

Setting the empty glass on the sink, the teen replied with a mumbled response. “Mm, I just felt sick all of a sudden.”

 

Not entirely convinced, but not wanting to fight, Nanase-san went about his own business, until Makoto came by to pick up Haruka. (They were going to go to lunch with the rest of the Iwatobi team.) The brunet was stopped by his second father as the catboy went upstairs to get some clothes on.

 

“Haru-chan was sick this morning, so watch out for him.”

 

The taller showed a confused expression, eyebrows bunching up as he processed this new information about his lover.

 

“Sick how?”

 

Nanase-san gave a tired sigh, these boys and their overly possessive behaviour towards each other would be the death of him.

 

“He was throwing up when I woke, but has since claimed that he feels fine.”

 

This explanation only made Makoto more concerned for the well being of his boyfriend. He didn't like to hear that Haruka was sick, he never did. What was more troublesome was the knowledge that the raven never got sick pass the point of a cold, unless it was serious. Both times it happened in the past was met with Haruka waking in a hospital bed.

 

“I'll keep an eye on him.” was the last thing said both the teens were off on the lunch meeting they had planned with the younger members of the club.

 

>°))))⋞  (=^ • ⍵ • ^=)  >°))))⋞  (=^ • ⍵ • ^=)  >°))))⋞

 

And everything was fine, until after lunch when everyone was settled in Makoto's room, playing video games. Haruka was winning, as was usual for him, however, Rei was becoming a worthy opponent. Nagisa and Makoto were basically racing each other with their lack of skill in car racing games, whoever won out of the two of them, would be the person to have first place. In short, they sucked.

 

Just after the raven past the finish line, Haruka bolted out of the bedroom, past Ren and Ran and to the bathroom. Retching was heard over the sound of the victory music, as the twins entered the bedroom.

 

"Why is Haru-nii sick?" the younger asked, settling into the blond's lap, while Ran took Rei.

 

Makoto dragged a hand through his hair and sighed. It's not food poisoning. From experience of living with Haruka, he knows that it isn't due to a cold. He doesn't know of any other illnesses that could cause this without there being a lot of pain before hand.

 

"I don't know. According to Otou-san, this happened this morning as well."

 

This admittance got the other teens thinking as well. Both wearing thoughtful expressions and mimicking the same pose. Nagisa was the first to speak, dropping the pose.

 

"Do you think this is part of the curse?" he asked. "Haru-chan was merged with a black cat and seahorse right? Do seahorses randomly throw up once a month?" Magenta eyes looked towards his boyfriend of two weeks.

 

"There is nothing I know of about seahorse regurgitation. Although, Nagisa is probably right, all the cat features are clearly visible and still no seahorse characteristics have been found."

 

There was a slight pause in which Ran hugged her older brother as he wore a concerned expression. She spoke up, wanting to help her older brothers.

 

"Maybe if Onii-chan describes Bream, Rei-san will have a better idea."

 

Smiling softly, Makoto gave her an affectionate pat on the head. (Ren too, when he whined.) Now it was the brunet's turn to look thoughtful as he put together the information he could remember about the aquatic creature.

 

"Let's see. Bream was the smallest seahorse I got Haru, and the most friendly. Though while you could pet him, he would hide in the grass when too many people got close."

 

There was another pause, before Nagisa started giggling to himself.

 

"Male seahorses are the ones that get pregnant right?" His snickering raised in volume as he continued speaking to the group. "What if Haru-chan was pregnant!"

 

The only one who reacted to this exclamation was Makoto, who went white as a sheet and promptly fainted after a moment of laughing hysterically. At the sound of the loud thump and cries of the youngers, Haruka poked his head into the doorway, to see what damage had occurred. Upon seeing his lover getting manhandled onto the bed by Rei and the twins, and Nagisa watching on the side with tears of laughter in his eyes, the catboy would rather not ask what had transpired. However, with the exception of Nagisa's halloween pranks, Makoto doesn't faint easily.

 

"What did you say to him?" the raven sighed out towards the unhelpful blond.

 

Looking up at the oldest teen, Nagisa let out a loud "Haru-chan!". Fluffy ears flattened, but it didn't help much.

 

"What did you say to him?"

 

The demon almost started laughing again, but seeing the scowl on Haruka's face made him quickly change his mind.

 

"I just told Mako-chan that the male seahorses are the ones to get pregnant, so maybe you were too!"

 

Taking in this idea, the raven sat down on the floor where he stood. Suddenly his available lap space was taken by his almost-siblings. Ren leaning into his chest, hugging the teen, while Ran wished to have her curiosity cured.

 

"Pregnant means having a baby, right?" A nod. "But only girls can have babies!"

 

The awake teens gave a chuckle at her cuteness, then wished they had never had this conversation in the first place when Ren spoke up.

 

"How are babies made anyway? Otou-san and Okaa-san say that you have to love each other, but then Haru-nii would have had a baby ages ago! And I love Ran, but she doesn't have a baby either."

 

Before things got any further out of hand, Haruka interjected the others thoughts.

 

"That is a conversation you will have with your parents when you are older."

 

"But we want to know now!"

 

' _Damn it_.' The twins had three brands of puppies eyes. Each on their own, and one together. By themselves, the freestylist was mostly unaffected, however, if both did them at the same time... Well, he was fucked. The only other puppy eyes he would submit to would be Makoto's... ' _Shit, they saw him using them on me, didn't they?_ '

 

"How about this?" He pet both of them to make sure they were paying attention. "If I am pregnant, when you turn eleven, I will tell you, if you still want to know."

 

Makoto woke up at the twins whooping, and the night progressed as it would have normally. The conversation was never mentioned, but everyone (except the twins), was still thinking about it.

 

>°))))⋞  (=^ • ⍵ • ^=)  >°))))⋞  (=^ • ⍵ • ^=)  >°))))⋞

 

The only face Haruka expects to see a few seconds after waking up, is Makoto's (or occasionally one of the twins). On this particular morning, the raven teen was greeted by the sight of Nagisa gloping a rather flustered Rei, while kissing the daylights out of him.

 

"What the fuck is going on?"

 

Clearly, Haruka was not in the mood for horseplay at eight in the morning. He had already been forced up in the middle of the night, vomiting again, and he wanted to sleep for the extra two hours he had been awake for. Breaking apart at the grumpy tone, Rei decided to take charge of the situation, as not to further burden his senpai.

 

"Haruka-senpai, I'm sure that you know that we were joking yesterday, but I firmly believe that all hypothesises should be tested-"

 

"Get to the point."

 

Jumping in to save his boyfriend from Haruka's mean uppercut, Nagisa blurted out their true reason for being there.

 

"I got one of my older sisters to buy a few pregnancy tests."

 

A groan, and sheets suddenly covered all previously visible parts of the catboy. A wiggling motion underneath the thin material alerted the kouhai's of the dangerously narrow path they were walking on. The new ears and tail that Haruka wore showed so much more emotion than he would before. Nagisa now knew to watch for the signs, before committing something especially risky.

 

"Haru-chan," the blond started softly, a caring nature rarely shown. "We just want to know the results. That's it. You can tell people yourself when you want, and we'll leave straight after."

 

A head appeared with furrowed eyebrows and flattened ears.

 

"No Mako-chan?"

 

"No Mako-chan."

 

>°))))⋞  (=^ • ⍵ • ^=)  >°))))⋞  (=^ • ⍵ • ^=)  >°))))⋞

 

By the time the usual Sunday dinner came about, Haruka was still sick, and still hadn't told Makoto the results. ' _I probably should have though_ ,' the raven thought, picking at his mackerel udon. ' _I don't want him to faint again_.'

 

The catboy knew that everyone was looking at him oddly. He could start at any time, so he made an effort to force down a handful of the thick noodles before speaking.

 

"I've found a seahorse feature of the curse."

 

This brought everyone's attention to him. The parents at one end of the table looked intrigued, while Ren and Ran bounced in the chairs and Makoto looked apprehensive.

 

"Is our promise still okay?" Ran asked, clearly excited by this development. Ren nodded along beside her.

 

Blushing slightly, the catboy nodded, earning a few obnoxiously loud squeals. The two fathers watched on with tired expressions, as the mother gave a fond smile.

 

"Haru-chan, may I ask what you promised them?"

 

Makoto nodded in concerned agreement. He knew that something was arranged when he was passed out, and he was scared as to what it was.

 

Haruka gave a small huff, ate a another few noodles before explaining.

 

"After Nagisa said a particularly odd comment, the twins asked me to explain how babies were made, and I said I would tell them when they turn eleven," he paused for a moment to mutter a "you're welcome." to the Tachibana parents, and to shuffle his hand into the light hoodie he was wearing. "I would tell them, if I was pregnant."

 

As the last word was said, the raven to pulled out three, positive, pregnancy tests. Just as he predicted, Makoto promptly fainted. Frowning at his boyfriend's collapsed figure, Haruka turned to the twins, while starting to lift brunet up. Sensing his need, the younger siblings jumped up to help the teen, by lifting Makoto's feet off the ground as they went up the stairs and towards his bedroom.

 

After depositing the hunk of meat onto the bed, Haruka motioned for his almost siblings to stay out of sight for a moment, so that he can eavesdrop on the parent's conversation. Of course, the devious ten-year-olds joined him in listening to the hushed voices.

 

Nanase-san was the first to break the silence at the dinner table.

 

"How long have they been dreaming of this?"

 

Okaa-san gave a affectionate chuckle and Tachibana-san simply sounded happy as he commented that, "Now, our sons can be happy and we have grandchildren!"

 

Nanase-san gave a hum in agreement, then in a solemn tone said, "It'll be hard for them though. They still need to finish school, and Haruka will have to find a new dream, he won't be able to swim in the Olympics and look after a child. Raising a child while going through university will be tough as well."

 

"Then," Okaa-san started, a large grin evidence in her speech. "We'll just have to support them!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kudos and comments make me work faster!
> 
> And tell me if you want more art and of which scenes! If it is something that I was already thinking of, it is likely to happen. But, I still won't know until you tell me!


	4. Gou swears, and things get out of hand.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Makoto wakes up.  
> The club studies together and Gou swears.  
> Interesting facts about the curse are discovered.  
> Makoto and Haruka discuss possible career options for the catboy, now that competitive swimming is no longer an option.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please note that the total chapter count is an estimate. The story will probably be ten chapters, but it could be nine... Just thought you guys would like to know.
> 
> Next chapter may take a while longer because of assessments and such. Also, it's a episode rewrite, and I don't really like doing those? You'll have to wait a bit. Chapter six is nearly finished though.

Makoto woke up half an hour later. The brunet carefully made his way downstairs, to find his dinner still on the table, while everyone else was tucking into strawberry daifuku. Makoto sat between Haruka and Ren, and continued to eat whatever fish cakes and noodles he had left before his boyfriend decided to make him faint.

 

"How did you even get those?" he asked the older teen.

 

The catboy swallowed the ice cream in his mouth before speaking.

 

"Nagisa and Rei woke me up on Thursday, and forced me into it."

 

"They know the results?"

 

A nod. "But they promised not to tell anyone until I said that they could." Haruka paused, and looked up at Makoto. "Are you okay with this?"

 

The brunet breathed a sigh and a soft expression formed that lit up his face. "Mm. It'll be hard, but everyone will help us, right? So we'll be fine. Finding a babysitter between classes will be a problem though."

 

A comfortable silence was broken by a muffled chuckle, when Haruka shoved the rest of his sweet confection in his lover's mouth. Nanase-san was the next to speak though.

 

"Did you think you will still be in Iwatobi when the baby comes, Haru-chan?" The innocent tone of the question was undermined by the knowing smirk on his features. Azure eyes grinning.

 

"Assuming it happened during the first week of the curse, that would mean early April."

 

At this the younger table occupants became interesting in the conversation again.

 

"We can go sakura viewing before you have to move to Tokyo!" the two of them exclaimed, jumping up and tugging on the brunet's arm.

 

The parents in the room watched on in amusement as the teens had to explain why going saruka viewing with such a small infant might not be a good idea.

 

>°))))⋞  (=^ • ⍵ • ^=)  >°))))⋞  (=^ • ⍵ • ^=)  >°))))⋞

 

Two weeks later, and everything was as normal as it could be. Haruka's father managed to secure a doctor and few nurses sworn to secrecy for the two, before he left to go back to Tokyo. The younger siblings of the will-be-fathers are ecstatic with this outcome, but have promised not to tell anyone until after their niece or nephew is born. Much like their children, the Tachibana parents overwhelmed with the urge to brag about their upcoming grandchild, but they did have the common sense to watch their tongues, and not let anything too incriminating spill.

 

Currently, the Iwatobi Swim Club was gathered in the living room around the small table completing their summer homework. Well, everyone but Rei was working on their homework. Gou had done a few of the sheets, but needed help with literature, Makoto only needed help with English and Nagisa and Haruka hadn't done anything until that day and still weren't quite finished yet.

 

To be fair, despite Haruka having already thrown up twice and being half-asleep on Makoto's shoulder, the raven has so far finished literature, health and history during the few hours everyone had been there. Only the second half had yet to be done.

 

Shaking himself awake again, Haruka pulled on Makoto's sleeve, catching the brunet's attention.

 

"Yes, Haru?"

 

"Pool."

 

Giving a fond sigh, and raising a hand to scratch the catboy between the ears, the taller replied with an exasperated tone. "Haru, we went to the pool yesterday."

 

There was a glare in response, but still a soft rumble caused by skilled fingers.

 

"If you really want to swim, we can go after you finish your homework."

 

"Pooolll," the eldest whined, banging his head into his lover's bicep, dislodging the brunet's hand.

 

The second years looked up at the unusual tone from the normally emotionless male. Nagisa and Rei shared a look and a wave of understanding passed over them, while Gou watched on confused as to whether she was dreaming or not.

 

Makoto gave a sigh, moving to face Haruka and scooping the other boy into his lap.

 

"Haru, we talked about this. You have to be able to get into university through academics, because the sports scholarship probably won't be accepted."

 

The red-head girl just got more and more confused while the blond nodded as Rei commented, "Good thinking ahead, Makoto-senpai."

 

The scowl on the catboy's face deepened and ears and tail started to twitch.

 

"I don't care, I want to go to the pool!"

 

"When you finish your homework."

 

"Pool now!"

 

"It'll only take an hour if you really try."

 

"Poooolllll!"

 

With the last woeful whine, tears sprung to the raven's eyes and slid down his cheeks. To add to the dramatics, Haruka was also beating on Makoto's chest with tightly clenched fists, but they lacked the intent to cause real harm.

 

Nagisa eagerly started to film the abnormal phenomenon, as the brunet gave up trying to placate the crying teen and worked his way into a standing position, cradling a bawling Haruka to his chest. Makoto gave an apologetic look to the underclassmen as he walked out of the room, and upstairs to their bedroom.

 

"What the fuck was that about?" was breathed into the silence of the room.

 

"Gou-chan swore!" Nagisa exclaimed, a delighted smile on his face with this development.

 

"It's Kou! And I believe I have a reason too!" She glanced to the other boys, seeing that they were treating the situation as if she was the only crazy one, she then asked, "How do you not find this weird?! I think that was the first time I saw Haruka-senpai cry, and he did it so dramatically! What the _fuck_ is going on?"

 

"Mood swings," the blunet replied as logical as ever.

 

"Rei-kun, he's not a middler schooler anymore, Haruka-senpai is way past that point in puberty."

 

“Ah.” Nagisa turned to his boyfriend, announcing, “Haru-chan never replied to us, so we never told anyone.”

 

“That's true.” Rei nodded. “Go ask Makoto-senpai if we can tell Kou-san, though it's not really our place to tell.”

 

Nagisa was already up and running before Rei had finished speaking. Upon reaching the bedroom, the blond first listened for a few seconds, before deciding it was safe. Just because he like to listen to various stories and embarrass his friends, didn't mean he wanted to actually see them going at it. Well, okay. _Today_ he didn't want to see them going at it.

 

The pair of them were lying on the queen sized bed (a present for Haruka's sixteenth). The raven had his face buried in the crook of the brunet's neck, shuddering with quiet, slowing sobs, as Makoto rubbed a comforting hand up and down his back. Something they had done for each other since Haruka was able to. Noticing the blond's presence the orca gave a tired smile, and beckoned him closer.

 

“What is it you want to ask?” the taller asked in a whispered voice, as not to disrupt the semi-composed atmosphere in the room.

 

“Gou-chan wants to know what happened, should we tell her? Or do you guys want to?” Nagisa inquired in the same tone, petting the head of dark hair a few times.

 

“It's not really up to me.” Makoto looked to the weakened figure in his arms. “Haru, do you want to tell Kou in person?”

 

Haruka shrugged without moving, sniffing loudly as the last of the tears left him. Just as the catboy started to rub his face on the shirt beneath him, his lover pushed his head up and grabbed a few tissues from the night stand. The brunet quickly wiped all tears and mucus off Haruka's face, then blindly threw the paper directly into bin -across the room, without even touching the sides-.

 

The grabbing of the tissues and the throw to the bin, seemed _so_ well practised that Nagisa almost didn't want to know how many times he had done it. Almost. The blond wasn't called a gossip demon for no reason. And while this particular piece of information could be well used, more pressing matters were at hand.

 

“So, Haru-chan?”

 

Said teen looked between the two of them and simply let out an exasperated sigh as he lent over to open one of the night stand draws. Inside, Nagisa's question from a month ago was answered.

 

Along with two half used bottles of lube (one mint and one chocolate) sat the Mako-Haru/Haru-Mako collection. Two handcuffs (one padded in green, the other in blue), one black butt plug, one blue vibrator, one set of green anal beads, both of the collars, and what must have been a new addition: a half green, half blue, double-sided dildo (' _Otou-chan must have bought it before he left as a birthday present or something,_ _because Haru-chan would never buy that_.'); were seen by magenta eyes.

 

Makoto flushed a bright red and hid behind his hands, while Haruka seemed indifferent to showing the menace their, admittedly extensive, accumulation of sex toys.

 

There also happened to be the three pregnancy tests in there, off to one side, away from the other t _hings_. Grabbing them out, the raven set about somewhat fixing his appearance and making his way downstairs... Without waiting for Nagisa to stop  wondering _just_ _how_ _experienced_ his friends were, and  for Makoto to stop covering his face in shame.

 

A s Haruka approached the two left in the living room, he coughed into his hand to notify them of his presence. He sat down across from the girl and started to speak in a slightly raspy voice from crying. 

 

“You probably what to know why I was acting so weird.”

 

“Yeah,” the red-head confirmed, ponytail waving as she nodded her head. “I've never even heard of you doing that before.”

 

The freestylist huffed and looked away. “I haven't. But this hasn't happened either.  We found out the seahorse feature of the curse. ”

 

And with that, Haruka put the tests on top of the other school work I plain view of the other room occupants (which now also included Nagisa, but not Makoto who was still too embarrassed to come down).

 

As soon as Gou registered what it was she was looking at. She then slammed her head into the table in front of her before any of the boys could stop her  with a cry of: “Too much fanfiction!” .  Red eyes examined the items again, then shrugged and smiled brillantly.

 

“I'm happy for you!” The smile turned slightly threatening as Gou proceeded to say, “As long as you make me the godmother, I'll be happy to help whenever I can!”

 

Haruka seemed indifferent to the hidden warning, and returned the shrug with a comment.

 

“Who else would be the godmother? You are the only female I'm close to who _isn't_ family.  However, our child is going to have a least _three_ godfathers.”

 

>°))))⋞  (=^ • ⍵ • ^=)  >°))))⋞  (=^ • ⍵ • ^=)  >°))))⋞

 

It wasn't too much later that other symptoms of the pregnancy started to show. Makoto walked into the kitchen a week or so later to find Haruka eating a tin of pineapple. Ignoring the weirdness of the situation, the brunet put on a smile and dumped his study notes and textbooks on the dining table.

 

"Ready to study, Haru-chan?"

 

"Lay off the -chan."

 

The raven gave a small pout and lowered his ears slightly. He popped another piece of fruit in his mouth, before going upstairs to get his own homework and notes. As the catboy left the room, Makoto quickly looked in the bin, sink and the secret stash to check for evidence of mackerel consumption with the tin of pineapple. Finding none, the taller hurriedly, went about organising the paper and pencils on the table.

 

Haruka came back down from their room to add his own collection of paper to the once bare surface. As he continued to eat just from the fruit tin, his lover came to the conclusion that should have been obvious.

 

'Haru-chan's taste in food is so weird that his food cravings seem normal.'

 

Merely a day later, Makoto experienced this oddity again while waiting for the last of the preparation for the Friday night dinner to be complete. The mother of the Tachibana family and Haruka was piling rice into bowls when Haruka asked:

 

"Okaa-san, can you give me your nikujaga recipe?"

 

"I already gave you the sabajaga* recipe I came up with."

 

It was at this point that Makoto realised what was occurring, but could do nothing to warn his mother of the impending tantrum should the wrong thing be said.  (Or so he thought.)

 

"I want the normal nikujaga recipe."

 

While Haruka's reply was a blank as ever, the outlandish request brought light to  the  woman and a knowing smile spread across her features. Pushing the last bowl of rice towards the teenagers to be placed on the table, she started on serving out the stew. 

 

"Ever since you were little, you have always eaten the oddest combinations of food. Your food cravings are making you want to eat more normal things, aren't they, Haru-chan?"

 

Haruka blushed slightly and turned away. Ears twitched in embarrassment, however there was nothing to say against the argument. Makoto was just amazed by the lack of hissy fits on Haruka's part. While there hadn't been another as dramatic as the summer homework fiasco, he had been walking on ice the past week to avoid seeing the catboy in tears again. But apparently, that was for naught. ' _Someone could have told me sooner._ ' 

 

>°))))⋞  (=^ • ⍵ • ^=)  >°))))⋞  (=^ • ⍵ • ^=)  >°))))⋞

 

It had been at least a two months since the Iwatobi swimming club had all eaten lunch together, and while the third years of the club had retired, they were still swimming in the school pool more than should be allowed.

 

The conversation was a broken mix of new swimming routines for the new members that would come in the new year and talk of the newest member of the club. (Even if they were only a few molecules).

 

"Haruka-senpai, you look much more healthy than you did a few weeks ago," Gou said, starting the ball rolling at the tip of mountain. If they weren't careful, the couple could start arguing over how the child would look. Again.

 

The raven nodded in acknowledgement and dumped a piece of broccoli in Makoto's rice. "The morning sickness has slowed down, so I've been sleeping better."

 

"Yes, there is a symptom of pregnancy commonly called, 'pregnant glow' around the end of twelve weeks. Due to the enhanced blood flow-" Rei was cut off by Nagisa's lips, and then an overwhelming amount of embarrassment.

 

During the chuckles (and heavy, fangirl breathing) that followed, another student came to the roof top. Chigusa was seen with a cloth bag in hand and two bottles of green tea in the other.

 

"Gou! I brought the tea!"

 

Said red-head gave a glare in the general direction of her friend and patted the spot next to her. The auburn haired girl gave a cursory glance at the males and sat down in a far too careful manner. Seeing this Gou decided to give her friend a small piece of advise.

 

"Every swimmer I hang out with is gay, so there's no need to be careful about your skirt." She paused to take in the two red faces around the circle. "Nagisa will tease you if he sees them, though."

 

"Aw, Gou-chan!" the blond whined. He was going to comment on the flash of lace he saw. (And maybe ask where she bought it), but for now, she had ruined his fun.

 

"It's Kou!"

 

Opening her lunch, the newcomer looked between the arguing pair and gave a smile at the non-seriousness of it. The swimming club was truly a close-knit group.

 

"So," Chigusa started, breaking two of the younger members out of their quarrel. "If everyone here is gay, then who are their partners?"

 

Makoto and Haruka just gave a small smile to each other. Having long come to terms with the fact that they may or may not get scorned for their relationship, the lovers were more than comfortable with almost anyone knowing of their connection. Haruka was also pretty sure that everyone in Iwatobi, and possibly Samezuka, knew of them anyway.

 

On the other hand, while Nagisa was more than happy for the world to know that he caught the Ryugazaki Rei, Rei himself was more subdued with this notion. The glasses wearing teen, blushed slightly and looked away, but a hand reached out to take the blond's. The action caused Nagisa to give a large grin and press a kiss to his cheek, resulting in a darker blush.

 

Chigusa hummed, then commented with a sly smirk. "Well, I would be surprised if Nanase-senpai or Tachibana-senpai said someone else, but I did think that Rei-kun would choose someone a little less hyperactive."

 

Gou nodded in understanding. "It makes more sense if you see them together."

 

Chigusa returned the nod from earlier, then an expression of confusion passed over. "Hey, there have been rumours going around that Nanase-senpai is more of a freak than usual. They didn't say why, but do you guys know of anything?"

 

This brought forth a general confused tone for the whole group. Haruka took lead in the conversation in order to get as much information as possible.

 

"You don't notice anything different about me?"

 

"Well," the auburn haired girl started. "I notice that you and Tachibana-senpai seem to be even closer now, and that you are getting bullied and rumoured about more. But nothing physically different."

 

At a simple gesture, Makoto dug his phone out of his pocket and handed it to his boyfriend. A minute or so later of silence and fumbling with the device, the raven handed the phone to the other girl. The photo showing on the screen was taken before the curse, Haruka and the twins in a bundle of sleeping limbs.

 

"How do I look in this picture?"

 

A look of great confusion clouded forest eyes. "You look like you are sleeping?"

 

Eyebrows furrowed while information of possible explanations flittered through Haruka's mind. Rei also seemed to understand what was occurring.

 

"Do you think that she can't see them, Haruka-senpai?" he asked, his tone turning quizzical.

 

"It is possible. Okaa-san would never completely outcast her children, probably," the raven replied, clicking through other photos on the phone. "Or, it is also possible that the curse failed in that aspect as well."

 

Rei hummed and started to formulate various plans and such while, Chigusa was inspecting the next picture: A photo Makoto had obviously taken in ' _secret_ ', Haruka was hunched over the stove in his usual attire of swimmers and apron cooking mackerel. The lack of other clothing made the cat ears and tail more evident to people who could see them. 

 

The auburn female of the group looked at the photo and said that: "Tachibana-senpai has some horrible stealth shot skills."

 

As Haruka handed the phone back to his boyfriend, Rei advanced on Chigusa, asking, "Hanamoto-san, you haven't noticed that Haruka-senpai has cat ears and a tail?"

 

As the common name for the new features was uttered, said female gasped, to the amusement of Gou, Nagisa and Makoto (who was forcing the raven to eat the green vegetable that was dropped into his lunch before). Forest eyes widened in amazement, as she crawled forward slightly, slowly moving her hand up to touch the catboy's ears. Haruka noticed this movement and leaned into the touch, purring slightly when the younger found The Spot to scratch. Chigusa drew her hand back sharply as the vibrations were heard.

 

Makoto gave a small chuckle at the reaction and reached his spare hand forward to pet Haruka himself. Scratching with one hand and feeding with the other. Giving her a minute to get used to the scene, Nagisa -who had been quiet while the bluenets worked together- brought it upon himself to explain further.

 

"Haru-chan was cursed by his mother, so now he has cat features and has the ability to get pregnant."

 

Gou watched her friend while trying to keep her laughter contained. This would be hilarious, not matter how many times she had to witness it. ' _Oh shit, Onii-chan and Sousuke-kun still don't know._ ' 

 

With wide eyes, Chigusa turned to the blond, her line of sight still stuck on the older teens.

 

"And how do you know that Nanase-senpai can get pregnant?"

 

The blond, sadistic demon gave the girl a look of 'isn't it obvious?', but replied anyway. "Haru-chan is pregnant."

 

The raven glared at the younger teen for a moment, before giving up on a lost cause and eating a bite of mackerel. Makoto froze momentarily, before joining his lover in eating the last of his lunch. Gou on the other hand looked at her unmoving friend with a small amount of sympathy and stood up, picking Chigusa up by under the shoulders, and walking back down to class.

 

"Well, that is an interesting development," Rei started as soon as the girls were no longer visible. "We should test this theory on others. We noticed straight away, perhaps this is because we know you personally. And not just as a passing name and face."

 

Makoto, who suddenly remembered, what would be an otherwise useless fact, added in: "The first class we had after you were cursed, no body said anything until, Ama-chan-sensei did. And she knows us a lot more than anyone else in the class."

 

Haruka hummed thoughtfully and a small smile graced his features.

 

"Tokyo will be easier now."

 

>°))))⋞  (=^ • ⍵ • ^=)  >°))))⋞  (=^ • ⍵ • ^=)  >°))))⋞

 

"Makoto?"

 

There was a groan of tiredness, followed by the sound of rustling sheets as the taller teen rolled over to face his lover.

 

"What is it Haru-chan?"

 

A huff of annoyance was heard and the slap of skin on skin. Then a moan of pain.

 

"I can't be an  Olympic swimmer now. At least, not for another year. What should I do?" 

 

Pathetic whimpering and more rustling.

 

"Do we have to talk about this now? We've already been awake for far longer than we should have and some of us want to be awake for class."

 

"Yes."

 

"Ugh..."

 

There was silence and Haruka suddenly felt a lot warmer as Makoto's body almost crushed his own. The skin on skin contact was nice, but they had already gone for two rounds, and he wasn't up for another... Yet. A morning quickie sounded like a good idea. After a few minutes, the breathing above him started to even out, a sign of one falling asleep. 

 

"Makoto!"

 

"Ow."

 

The brunet shuffled around in the darkness again, so that he was cradling Haruka, more than crushing him.

 

"You are a great artist... And you are good at cooking, and saving cooking  disasters ... Combine them." 

 

Needless to say, Makoto fell asleep as he was talking.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *sabajaga: nikujaga, but with mackerel (saba) instead of meat (niku).  
> (Not an actual dish, but its Haru)
> 
> Kudos and comments make me work faster!


	5. Soz, it's not finished yet. I'll get there

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Haven't finished yet. Be another few weeks or so. Thank you for understanding that Uni sucks the life and creativity out of you.

He knew he was putting it off. He didn't want to do it. He should never have said that he would, no matter what the circumstances were. Otou-san and Okaa-san could have looked after it just fine. It would have been perfect. But now, here he was. At the counter. Buying the fucking book. Fucking is a rather good adjective to describe the book, because that is exactly what it is about. ' _I should not have made that promise._ '

 

Outside (because the bastard didn't want to be seen buying the fucking book), Makoto gave an apologetic glance in his direction, before pretending that he didn't know the person buying the fucking book. ' _I should not have made that promise_.' He begrudgingly paid -paid!- for the fucking book, and made his way to the door with an inconspicuous bag in hand. The taller brunet refused to hold his hand until they were out of sight of the book store.

 

When he returned home, he placed the fucking book on the dining table, where everything would happen while Makoto went home and sent the twins back up alone. ' _I should not have made that promise._ '

 

"Haru-nii!" the two eleven year olds called out as they made their way into the dining room.

 

"It's about time that you agreed, our birthday was last month!" Ran continued.

 

Haruka gave a suffering sigh and dumped a jug of hot chocolate on the table along with each of their favourite mugs. Pouring himself a mug and downing it quickly, his ears and tail flicked with annoyance. He pulled the fucking book from the innocent bag and placed it in front of his -almost- younger siblings as they got their drinks sorted.

 

"What do you want to learn about first. Boys? Girls? Or how to make babies?" the raven asked the two.

 

Together they almost shouted at him, but managed to keep the overall volume at more tolerable levels.

 

"How to make babies!"

 

' _Fucking great_.'

 

After he finished, Ren ran back home, so Haruka gave Ran 'The Talk'. Which then resulted in her running back home and hiding in their shared bedroom, pushing Ren out to the hall and into Haruka's wrath.

 

Both of them avoided Haruka, their parents, Makoto, and basically anyone older than them, for at least two weeks. Until, their mother told them that it was inevitable, and that they should get over it. Ren got over it quicker than Ran, by an hour. The shy boy then went an apologised to his brothers for ignoring them for so long. Ran just gave them both a hug.

 

>°))))⋞  (=^ • ⍵ • ^=)  >°))))⋞  (=^ • ⍵ • ^=)  >°))))⋞

 

“Out of the way!”

 

Right before the collision could not be rectified, Makoto pulled the catboy closer to him and the cosplay maid fell over thin air. The food supplies she was carrying for the supposed maid café went flying towards the feet of the other two Iwatobi Club members. The blond and his boyfriend immediately started to pick up the food and gently shove it back into the bag.

 

After making sure that his loved one was okay, Makoto held a hand out to the maid that had fallen.

 

“Are you okay?” the brunet asked, helping the girl to her feet.

 

In the background, Nagisa commented that Makoto was acting like a typical prince. All that was missing was the sparkles. Haruka replied by saying that a prince shouldn’t cheat on his boyfriend. The other couple nodded in agreement a forlorn tone taking over the group.

 

“Hey!” Makoto interjected.

 

“Ah!”

 

At the exclamation from the maid, the group turned back to face her... Him... Turned back to face the second year male that Makoto helped.

 

“Ai-chan!” Nagisa started. “Why are you wearing a maid outfit?”

 

The silver-haired teen gathered his bag from the other swimmers and pointed in the direction of the room that the swim club was using for their event.

 

“It’s for our club’s stall. ‘Samezuka’s Maid Café from Hell’.”

 

>°))))⋞ (=^•⍵•^=) >°))))⋞ (=^•⍵•^=) >°))))⋞

 

The Iwatobi swim team pouted as they noticed the lack of blackmail material on Rin. (Nagisa was at least hoping for a ribbon in the hair or something.) Instead, the old friends greeted each other and one of the relay teams took a seat at a table, while the other prepared drinks and meals for them.

 

As it was brought out, Haruka licked his lips at the double sized omu-rice set in front of him. Rin watched the behaviour with a crooked eyebrow pointed in the direction of the raven’s keeper, though Makoto was busy fishing through his bag and revealing a can of mackerel.

 

“Seriously?” Rin started the conversation. “You’re gonna put mackerel in omu-rice?”

 

Surprisingly, Haruka shook his head, and Makoto put the can back. Taking a sip of his melon soda, the brunet could only smile fondly at his lover.

 

“Don’t feel like it today,” Haruka spoke as a verbal reply.

 

Noting the confused expression on the shark’s face, the butterfly swimmer voiced an important piece of missing information.

 

“Haruka-senpai, Rin-senpai doesn’t know,” Rei paused for a moment as Nagisa was busy slapping his boyfriend to contain his laughter. “Neither does the rest of the Samezuka relay team.”

 

The catboy frowned at this comment, no doubt annoyed at the effort required. Only yesterday, Haruka was bothered to throw out the tests. Three and a half months was plenty of time for them to sit in The Drawer and do nothing, it was time for them to move on. And now, the soon-to-be father only had one thing that he could use to promote their far-fetched claim.

 

Haruka started eating and gave a pouted look to his boyfriend. Green eyes caught the message and begged otherwise.

 

“Haru!” Makoto whined. “I only noticed it a few days ago!” The brunet teen hugged the elder tightly, but allowed him to continue eating. “Don’t show anyone yet!”

 

The whiny tone moved Nagisa’s attention from his bear-shaped curry to the taller brunet.

 

“What did you just notice, Mako-chan?” he asked, smirking in anticipation.

 

Makoto pouted and buried his face in Haruka’s neck, refusing to answer. The raven opened his mouth to speak, but an unsexy, painful bite to his shoulder forced the catboy to shut it pretty quickly. Through gritted teeth, Haruka managed to announce that:

 

“Makoto is being stupid.”

 

The other couple at the table and Rin sighed at this comment.

 

“That’s nothing new, Haru-chan,” the blond said, frowning.

 

“Agreed,” Rei spoke up. “Makoto-senpai often lacks common sense when it is about something he loves. Especially Haruka-senpai and their child.”

 

While this particular topic was nothing new to the seated teens, to Rin, it had an entirely different meaning. The red-head started laughing.

 

“What? Has Makoto finally adopted one of the strays as his kid or something?” the shark asked between exasperated snickers.

 

It was just pure forgetfulness, and lack of interaction, but nevertheless, the Samezuka relay team (especially Rin) had to be told about the newest member of the Tachibana-Nanase family. And he had to be told now.

 

Shoving another spoonful of fried rice and egg into his mouth, Haruka stood, grabbed Rin arm, and started to drag the other towards the curtains separating the makeshift kitchen from the rest of the room. The red-head tried to protest the hold, but ultimately gave up as Makoto decided to help his boyfriend.

 

(Nagisa was watched by Rei, to make sure that the raven’s food was still there when he got back. When the catboy returned, only a few spoonfuls were missing.)

 

After passing through the kitchen -getting a confused glance from Sousuke and Aiichirou-, Haruka rounded on the red-head. Makoto stood perpendicular to the pair, wearing a patient smile waiting to be tested.

 

“Rin,” the catboy spoke in a soft voice, as if about to tell a secret. “One of my greatest wishes is coming true.”

 

At this Makoto’s breath caught and his eyes welled up with tears. The brunet didn’t know that it meant _that much_ to Haruka. A lot, yes; but not being his second biggest wish.

 

Seeing his boyfriend’s foolish actions, the raven stood in front of the taller male, so that Makoto could hide his face in the smaller’s neck, trying to muffle happy giggles.

 

Rin, on the other hand, was stumped for guesses. He had no idea what was going on and both of his friend’s actions were just confusing him. ‘‘ _One of my greatest wishes_.’’ If the shark was forced to list Haruka’s priorities in order it would be: Makoto, swimming, and mackerel (‘ _but_ _the last_ _one was_ _just_ _proven wrong, and Makoto wouldn’t be_ this _happy about the second one.’_ )

 

“Are you guys getting married or something?” he asked tentatively, but continued to mutter to himself. “But then what was Rei going on about, ‘their child’?”

 

Makoto managed to compose himself and separated his face from Haruka’s neck long enough to speak to their shark friend.

 

“Nagisa guessed what the seahorse features would do to Haru,” the orca started, calmly, then almost squealing as he pecked the dolphin on the cheek and held him tighter. “Rin,” Makoto’s voice was giddy with excitement, despite knowing for months, whenever anyone exclusively mentioned their child, the brunet felt insanely happy. “How do seahorses reproduce?”

 

Said red-head looked at the pair with an annoyed glare. This was getting stupidly confusing. ‘ _Why can’t they just tell me?’_ he thought, grinding his teeth together in frustration. However, he answered the stupid question anyway, because between wishes, seahorses and children, something had to become clear.

 

“The female seahorse donates her egg to a male who then develops the young and then gives birth or whatever,” Rin grumbled out. “Basically, it’s the male that is pregnant, not the female,” he finishes and looks back at the pair.

 

Receiving expectant expressions (from both of them (and Sousuke in the background, who had no doubt been eavesdropping)), instead of forcing them to tell him, he decide to think over what they were just talking about. Besides, Haruka would give another metaphorical answer, while Makoto would be ‘wishy-washy’.

 

Child, greatest wish, seahorse-part of the curse, seahorse reproduction...

 

Makoto and Haruka watched as the exact moment Rin figured it out. His eyes widened, his face paled and he took a step backwards into the wall. He then spoke out a question that was actually the answer.

 

“You’re pregnant?”

 

While the brunet’s grin was blinding, the catboy’s was smaller. A small, sweet smile that lit up his features was a rare sight to see on the raven... At least to people who are not family.

 

Taking into account that his friends were never exactly normal, and that Haruka was already a demi-god/half-witch or whatever, it was a rather easy piece of information to take in. Haruka always had to win every race, this one would be no different. He felt slightly jealous, but happy for his friends.

 

Rin gave the couple a hug, and kissed the catboy’s cheek -an Aussie thing, apparently- and wished them happiness.

 

“However, if you name the kid, Mizu, Sui, Pool, Umi, or Kawa I will force you to change it!”

 

“You aren’t their guardian and never will be. It won’t be Umi though,” the catboy said, looking up at his lover and wrapping a tail around his waist. “The ocean has tied to take you away from me twice.”

 

“ _Looks like Makoto can keep the secret for a little while longer.”_

 

>°))))⋞ (=^•⍵•^=) >°))))⋞ (=^•⍵•^=) >°))))⋞

 

Soon after, Rin relayed the information to the rest of the people who knew about the catboy, and the Iwatobi team had finished eating their lunch. So, it seemed logical to walk around the festival, while harassing each other.

 

However, Rin made a stupid comment by comparing Haruka to Sousuke, leading the catboy to almost start crying at being similar to his enemy. Makoto crushed the elder to his chest to try and stop the tears before they started.

 

Luckily, Nagisa spotted a stall for survival games with water guns, and Haruka instantly cheered up (despite it not actually containing mackerel, but everyone knew that he just wanted to be shot).

 

As everyone was choosing their weapon, Makoto wondered how the teams would be picked. Aloud.

 

“Ooo! I know how!” Nagisa exclaimed, pointing his gun towards the taller brunet’s face. “All of the couples split up! One person from each couple on a team.”

 

It turns out that everyone agreed with this, bar one person. However, there was some other complications to be dealt with.

 

“Nagisa-kun, both Momo-kun and I don’t have romantic partners.”

 

The blond merely grinned and wrapped his arm around Aiichirou’s shoulders.

 

“You guys are single together, and thus you are a couple!”

 

Sighing at the misleading sentence, the silver-haired boy conceded with the situation, thinking of ways he could get the carrot-top teen to reveal himself.

 

Makoto would not be so easily convinced.

 

“I don’t want Haru to be running around without me.”

 

It wasn’t often that Makoto used his ‘captain/big-brother’ voice. Much less, outside of practice, or home. Although, about 80% of the time he was using it towards the blond menace, so it wasn’t completely unusual. Like the time when Nagisa mentioned something about a new fountain in the Samezuka mall, and then Haruka was promptly banned. Nagisa should have known better then to mention it in front of the raven.

 

“Makoto, I’ll be fine,” the raven protested, pouting slightly, ear lowering and tail hanging heavily. Having more control over his new features, meant that Haruka could now use them to his advantage. “I’ll be in a team with either, Rin, Rei or even Yamazaki, so they can carry me to you if something goes wrong.”

 

Makoto’s problems with isolation from his boyfriend melted surprising quickly.

 

‘ _Kitten eyes_ _perfected_ _.’_

 

Rin gave a questioning look to the cedar-haired male and sighed at the returned nod.

 

“Very well then. I want to verse Haru, so Makoto is on my team and Sousuke is with Haru,” the red-head said, separating the teams to different sides of the corridor. “The rest of you can sort yourself out.”

 

Nagisa was the next to pick, and made up the team names in a typical Nagisa fashion. Looking between Sousuke and Rin, the blond turned to the taller of the two and asked, “Sou-chan was the first to top, right?”

 

Fortunately for him, Rin didn’t pay attention to what the blond was saying. Everyone who was paying attention was now either blushing (Rei and Aiichirou) or blank faced (Haruka and Sousuke).

 

Sousuke contemplated his answer for a few minutes, before deciding that coming up with a diversion would be too much effort.

 

“So what?”

 

Nagisa gave a quieter whoop than normal, for once considering his surroundings.

 

“Then the teams go like this!” the penguin hastily shoved Rei to the other side of the hallway, and Momotarou moved to be in the same team as his more friendly senpai. “Team Seme is -” Nagisa was cut off by spluttering on the team. “Is there a problem, Mako-chan?”

 

Blush getting worse from the attention that was put on him, Makoto cleared his throat before replying.

 

“That is no way to decide teams, besides, Haru and I switch.”

 

Knowing that lately the ‘switching’ has been very one-sided anyway, Nagisa grinned and continued to announce the teams as if Makoto never said anything.

 

“Team Seme is me, Haru-chan, Sou-chan and Momo-chan!”

 

Momotarou fist-pumped and asked what seme meant. While, Rin was still confused.

 

“And why do you proclaim that team as ‘seme’?” he asked using finger quotation marks around the word seme. “This team could also be seme.”

 

Nagisa shook his head in a patronising manner.

 

“It’s the _first_ person to top, Rin-chan!” the blond exclaimed in an exasperated tone, causing everyone in the same team as Rin to blush heavily. At least they had something to bond over. “Now, Team Uke is Rei-chan, Mako-chan, Rin-chan and Ai-chan!”

 

Rather eager to get away from Nagisa -even for a short while- Rin quickly explained the rules and set off on their separate ways.

 

No less than a minute after Sousuke and Haruka started arguing about how best to attack their partners, team seme was ducking under a barrage of water.

 

They could hear Rin proclaim that he could read Sousuke’s mind.

 

“You too?” Haruka asked his current team mate.

 

The taller male only nodded in an exasperated matter. “It gets worse when we are competing against each other.”

 

Haruka hummed. “I don’t believe Makoto could possibly get better at reading me, same for me to him though.”

 

The water stopped for a moment while Aiichirou was shooting his own team mates. The darker haired members of cornered team took advantage of this and bolted while they could. Makoto immediately took after Haruka while shouting at him to stop running so fast. (Haruka was, of course, still significantly slower than the rest of the players.)

 

Rather quickly, Rin also ran after them while Nagisa and Momotarou had a somewhat one-sided face-off with Rei and Aiichirou.

 

>°))))⋞ (=^•⍵•^=) >°))))⋞ (=^•⍵•^=) >°))))⋞

 

(Add stuff here.)

 

>°))))⋞ (=^•⍵•^=) >°))))⋞ (=^•⍵•^=) >°))))⋞

 

After the rather confronting incident, the hazel haired teen did find his lover, near the school fence line as Haruka finished refilling his guns. The raven immediately sprinted away from his lover, only to get a shout and glare in protest. The catboy made a show of rolling his eyes before complying to the silent request.

 

The couple _power-walked_ down each side of the path closest to them, ducking behind trees and firing at each other, when they felt they had a chance. Eventually, Haruka realised that he would not be able to do much without having some sort of advantage, he couldn't use their child though. That wouldn't be worth the win.

 

Coming out from behind a tree, the raven dropped his empty gun and mock surrendered. However, Makoto caught the competitive glint in the other's ocean blue eyes, a slight twitch of cat ears confirmed his hypothesis.

 

"I know that you still have another gun behind your back, Haru-chan," Makoto near whispered into the suspense, through a knowing smirk.

 

Haruka soon shared this expression and pulled out his other gun from his belt. Makoto took a step towards the extended gun, causing the catboy to take a step back. Synchronised, this continued until Haruka's back was against the fence.

 

"It's over, Haruka."

 

The dark tone of Makoto's voice brought a shiver over the raven teen.

 

Locked in a stalemate, a breeze blew between the lovers, hair swayed and ears twitched as the audience of two grew to three. The conversation from the younger swimmers was not heard by the two third years, too busy trying to find an opening in their opponent.

 

One minute turned into two, and the lactic acid build up in their arms caused their arms to become shaky, compromising their aim and slowly forcing their arms to lower. The raven seemed to be struggling with this more than Makoto, as he arm started to fall at a slightly faster rate.

 

Just as Makoto was about to fire, a strange, furrowed look took over Haruka's previous expression. Confusion was obvious, and the catboy lowered his arms, the brunet copying his actions, as it was obviously not a ploy to lower his guard. After seeing that his boyfriend would not take advantage of the situation, Haruka dropped his gun, and placed his right hand over his abdomen. After a few seconds of feeling nothing, the catboy closed his eyes and concentrated.

 

Although was surprised by his lover’s actions, Makoto soon realised what was happening. (Even though it was a week or so early.) The brunet walked over to Haruka, only a step away from the older, waiting for his ocean eyes to open again.

 

And they did, not a moment later, Haruka looked wide-eyed into meadow green asking for an answer he already knew, and so, the catboy only got a soft, knowing smile in return. Ocean eyes watered, tears dripping down his chin as a bright, but wobbly, smile came to the surface.

 

“Ma-makoto,” the raven stuttered through his sobs. “Our child. T-they’re...” he trailed off, unable to keep speaking, and stuffed his face into the taller’s shoulder.

 

Makoto wrapped his arms around the smaller. He lowered his head to be level with Haruka’s ears (the human ones) and whispered possible ends to the unfinished sentence.

 

“They’re moving? They’re alive? What did we do to deserve this?”

 

Haruka nodded along to all of the suggestions, gripping on to Makoto’s shirt even tighter. Over the next few moments of the embrace, Haruka’s knees got weaker, and his boyfriend’s uniform became wet with tears. Slowly, the catboy pulled back, leaning on the fence for support (even though Makoto was still holding him). The brunet wiped away Haruka’s tears, his own not far from falling, as grins beam at each other.

 

“You know,” Makoto starts, his forehead touching Haruka’s, “We haven’t talked about names yet.”

 

“Mizu,” came the immediate response.

 

“ _Haru!_ ”

 

Despite his supposed feelings on the matter, the taller couldn’t help but giggle in pure delight. Haruka gave his own fond chuckle, their noses rubbing together at the combined actions. The Eskimo kiss did not last long however, as Makoto soon tilted his head to bring their lips together in a soft, sticky sweet kiss.

 

(Most of the audience turned a bit pink in the cheeks at the blatant display of affection. Rustling in the bushes on the other side of the kissing couple was ignored, the flash was less so.)

 

“It can’t just be Mizu,” Makoto continued, after he had pulled back enough to speak.

 

Haruka rolled his eyes again (another tear falling).

 

“What suffix or prefix do you suggest then?”

 

“Well,” the brunet started, punctuating with a peck to the lips in front of him. “Since a sea witch blessed us with this child, what about Mizuko?”

 

“ _Water-child_?” Haruka gave a huff of fond amusement. “If that better or worse than my suggestion?” he asked with a smile, leaning into another kiss.

 

Makoto easily accepted the offering, holding the other’s face with his left hand, while his right lightly massaged where the young life was stirring.

 

The raven giggled. An odd sound, happy and cute, but so rarely heard (even for Makoto).

 

“They know that it’s their Otou-san doing that. They started moving more,” Haruka whispered, blushing slightly.

 

Makoto hummed. “You already dibs Papa then?”

 

The catboy pouted. “I refused to be called Mama or Okaa-san.”

 

\----

 

And then, Nagisa pops out of the bushes and kills everyone with a real gun... I’m too sick/stressed for this shit. Please wait another week or two for me to complete the rest of the episode re-write. (Uni is hell...) (The next chapter is already finished.)

 

Also! I will be at SMASH! on Saturday in Sydney. Look for Neko!Haru around the merch hall and say hi. I don’t bite.

Also, also! I am in the UON Callaghan Anime Club, if anyone reading this is an aussie uni student... Yep, didn’t think so.

 

THANK YOU FOR THE SUPPORT!!!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Any additional support would be appreciated!


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